The New Exiles
by IceyLink
Summary: A team sent from one reality to the next in hopes of fixing what is wrong and in turn find a way home. Issue 50 is now posted. Series is complete.
1. Team Roster

**The New Exiles**

**Disclaimer:**

These issues are a work of fiction based partly on characters owned by Marvel Entertainment Ltd. These stories are not to be used for commercial gain, and are purely for entertainment purposes only.

Parallel universes. Alternate realities. Some are like the world we know, others completely different. That is where you will find the EXILES, a team sent to repair the broken links in the chains of time, restoring the cosmic balance. Plucked from their own separate realities, the Exiles travel from one flawed version of Earth to the next, setting things right so they can return to their former lives.

Team Roster:

**Crystal Palace**

Power Pack AKA Alexis Power … Mutant daughter of Jack Power and Paige Guthrie

Chameleon AKA Mary Jane Parker … Contains the powers of the Sinister Six

Morph AKA Kevin Sidney ... Crazy mutant shape-shifter stuck in a state of goop

Black Axe AKA Grey Astrovick … Mutant son of Jean Grey and Vance Astrovick

**The Exiles**

Blink AKA Clarice Ferguson ... Mutant teleporter

Thunderbird AKA John Proudstar … Former mutant Horseman of Apocalypse

BattleStar AKA Lamar Hoskins … America's first Super Soldier

Polaris AKA Charles Lehnsherr … Mutant son of Magneto and Rouge

Spider-Girl AKA Rachel Parker … Mutant born with both her parent's spider-like powers

Phoenix AKA Jean Grey-Summer … Mutant once thought dead but has rose again from the ashes.

**The Reality Security Enforcers (R.S.E.)**

Mimic AKA Calvin Rankin … Mutant collector of powers

Nocturne AKA T.J. Wagner ... Mutant daughter of Kurt & Wanda trapped in the body of the Time Hunter

Krystalin … Alien-mutant daughter of Nick Fury and the Skrull known as Lija

Twilight AKA Lenore Fenzel … Displaced Paranormal with a paralyzing charm

Blaze AKA Dane Summers … Mutant daughter of Havok and Polaris

Solo AKA Bret Banner … Mystical mutant son of the Hulk and Clea the Sorceress Surpreme

**The X-Tremes**

Sabretooth AKA Victor Creed … Mutant beast

Sunfire AKA Mariko Yashida … Mutant vampire

Skullfire AKA Timothy Fitzgerald … Mutant member of the X-Men 2099

Dazzleshot AKA Blair … Mutant daughter of Longshot and Dazzler

Mastodon AKA David Landers … Displaced Paranormal beast

Gambit AKA Remy Lebeau … Mutant kinetic with a cloak of darkness

**Death Squad**

Death Sand … Carnage Symbiote animating the body of the Sandman

Devourer AKA Janet Van Dyne … Genetically created monster with a deadly hunger

Hulk-X AKA Logan … Mutant Weapon X gamma experiment

All Father AKA Thor … God turned mortal with a thirst for vengeance


	2. Changing of the Guard

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #1 – Changing of the Guard**

"Blink, watch out!" screamed Mimic.

Blink teleported before two pairs of Adamantium claws sliced her in half. She quickly reappeared on top of a building. She looked down and found it hard to find her teammates or the surviving heroes of this world among the hundreds of Weapon X-M clones. She had no idea how they were going to all survive this mission. Especially going up against the clones.

According to the Tallus, a major mistake had been made, and they had to correct it. On this world the Weapon Plus program was headed up by Director Essex. He had taken a man by the name of James Howlett and tried to create a superhuman weapon called Weapon X. Before he could start the bonding process, James had a heart attack. Essex quickly went into another course of action. He bought in a mutant by the name of Jamie Madrox.

After hours of work, the sinister Director Essex had fused claws onto Jamie and spliced James' mutant gene into Jamie giving him the ability to heal rapidly and animal senses/reflexes, along with his own mutant power of making clones of himself. Once that was done, Essex began the process of bonding Adamantium with Jamie. The process was a success and now Jamie had become Weapon X-M.

A month later Essex, now known as Mr. Sinister, declared on TV his mission to take over the world and sent out his Weapon X-M. The X-Men arrived to stop him. Jean Grey fell to a mortal blow from a pair of Adamantium claws. Cyclops rushed to her side. This, according to the Tallus is where things went wrong. At this moment Cyclops was suppose to take the body of Jean into his arms and then get stabbed by a Weapon X-M clone. His death would trigger the bond between him and Jean and cause the Phoenix Force to rush to Earth and consume them, resurrecting Jean as the Dark Phoenix. She would then destroy Mr. Sinister and the entire Weapon X-M clones with the original saving the world.

Except that did not happen. When the Timebroker arrived to pull someone from this reality like he did to the Exiles, he miscalculated and grabbed the wrong person. Instead of grabbing Iceman he accidentally grabbed Cyclops. Before he could fix it Jean was completely dead and the Weapon X-M had overpowered and killed all the original X-Men. Within a week, Weapon X-M had helped Sinister take over Canada. This is where the Exiles entered the picture.

They had to correct the mistake the Timebroker had made. Mr. Spinster's Weapon X-M clones were taking over the United States. The Exiles, along with the remaining Earth heroes, had to get past the clones and make it into the Department H headquarters, find the original Weapon X-M, and kill it. By killing the original, all the clones would disappear and they would save this world. Now if only they could get past the hundreds of clones to actually get into the Department H building. Clarice would just teleport in, but there was a barrier that prevented teleporters from gaining access. So they had to get in the old-fashioned way.

When her team, comprised of Mimic, Beak, Morph, Sasquatch, and Namora, had arrived, they met up with Professor X and his remaining team of New X-Men. With the information she had provided about how to end the threat, they had called in the Avengers and any other available help. While this huge force of heroes developed the plan to storm Department H, Forge had just completed the first X-M Ray Gun. It had the ability and range to instantly disintegrate 10 clones at a time. Because it worked so instantly, the clone's healing factors didn't have time to react. So in an instant all that was left were a pile of Adamantium skeletons.

Forge was going to make more but before he could, a raid of Weapon X-M clones attacked the mansion and Forge was killed. Luckily, Beak had managed to swoop in and save the X-M Ray Gun. Captain America and a few others had risked their lives to distract the clones while Beta Ray Bill, all teleporters, including herself, teamed up and teleported all the remaining heroes directly into Canada. Here they stood, a block from Department H, and the only thing coming between them and their goal was hundreds of Weapon X-M clones.

Blink snapped back to the present as she saw 10 X-M Clones coming at her. Blink called forth her powers sending a couple dozen energized javelins causing them all to vanish upon contact. She couldn't keep this up for much longer. She had used her powers so much that she was beginning to grow weak. She just hoped wherever Beak was that he could get that Ray Gun into Department H before it was too late.

Beak looked around. He didn't know where Blink, Mimic, or Sasquatch was. He just hoped they would be okay. They had made it to the back door of Department H. Morph was off creating a diversion allowing his team of Namora, Beta Ray Bill, Sunspot, Colossus, Invisible Woman, Strong Guy, Rogue, and Guardian to get inside. Thanks to Guardian they knew exactly where to go inside Department H to find Sinister and Weapon X-M. It was now a matter of getting there.

"We are all agreed. No matter what, Beak and the gun make it to Weapon X-M," Guardian stated as every one of them nodded.

The team of nine moved quickly with Guardian in the lead. Beak was placed in the middle of the group under the strict protection of Beta Ray Bill. Just as they turned the corner, they saw their path was blocked by dozens of X-M Clones.

"Can't go that way."

"Well, we can't go back either."

They turned to see what Sunspot was talking about. There were dozens of clones behind them now too. They were trapped. The clones charged from both sides, and the heroes prepared for the slaughter. Suddenly the clones on both sides stopped. It was like an invisible barrier was holding them back.

"Sue, are you okay?" Guardian asked tensely.

"I can hold them, but I don't know for how long," Sue answered as beads of sweat formed on her forehead.

"There is a ventilation shaft above us we could climb through and take us to the floor we need," Guardian said looking up.

"Up we go," Sunspot laughed as he blew a hole in the ceiling.

"We can't leave you, Sue."

"Guardian, we all made a pact. You all go and I'll hold them back for as long as I can. GO!" Sue commanded as a force shield pushed them all up and into the hole. She then blocked the hole itself with her powers.

They moved quickly with thoughts of Sue lingering on their minds. They soon exited the vent system and found themselves in a large room. Guardian told them that the door clear up on the highest wall was the door they needed to go through. The only way to get to it was by flying. Before they could do anything dozens of Box-like robots emerged from the walls.

"Guardian, Bill, Beak, Namora, Rogue, fly on out of here. The rest of us have the muscle to keep these robots busy."

Guardian nodded at Colossus as the five of them flew up to the door leaving the others behind with the robots. They found themselves in a laboratory. High up in the air in a glass tube-like container was the original Weapon X-M. A long tube came down from it and touched the floor with an opening. That was where the clones popped out.

"Look! Clones are starting to descend the tube!" Beak shouted.

Namora used her strength and ripped a large chunk of wall out and placed it over the tube opening.

"I will hold this in place and keep them from coming out," she said grimly.

"There is no way you can hold them back, let alone avoid their claws."

"That's why she'll have me helping," Rogue said as she and Namora held the blockade in place. "Now get going!"

As Beak, Bill, and Guardian flew up to the glass container, they were amazed at the two women who held that barrier in place while claws pierced through it and through them. Beak knew he would not let his teammates' deaths be in vain.

"Okay, Beak, blast the sucker."

"Not so fast," came a voice followed by a blast that ripped Guardian in two.

Beak and Beta Ray Bill turned to see Mr. Sinister floating on a hover disk near them.

As Bill took Sinister head on, barely holding his own, Beak flew with all his might and courage at the glass container. Lasers began to fire at him hitting his wings, but he didn't give up. Too many had sacrificed themselves to get him here. He looked X-M dead in the eyes as he pulled the trigger of the Ray Gun. Suddenly Weapon X-M was no more, as were all the clones. Beak had done it. He then turned to his friends.

Sinister was gone, as Beta Ray Bill lay almost lifeless on the ground. He then looked over and saw Rogue and Namora lifeless but still against the barrier. Beak wiped his tears and stepped near Bill.

"You did well, son. I am near death and need my hammer to heal, but alas it is over there and I can't reach it."

"I will bring it to you."

"You won't be able to. Only those worthy can lift the enchanted StormBreaker."

Beaked walked over to the hammer and to his surprise lifted it up."

"Dear Odin. No mortal has ever lifted the enchanted hammer."

"Here take it."

"No, I can see that you are the one worthy of the hammer now. Take it and continue the good fight," Bill gasped as he went still.

"Beak! You did it!" Mimic, Blink and Morph shouted as he approached.

"Where is Namora and the others?"

"I am all that is left."

Even though they had not really known Namora that long or well, they still felt a painful loss. It was nothing like the pain they felt when they told Beak about what had happened to their dear friend Sasquatch, Heather. Her wound was too deep to heal. The four Exiles walked off to mourn together while the heroes of this world celebrated their victory. As they walked they felt a strange but familiar tingle. Soon the four of them were gone in a flash.

Suddenly the four Exiles were standing in a grassy field near a university. They looked around to se if they could make out where they were.

"What does the Tallus say?"

"Actually, I don't know. It's no longer around my wrist," Blink said as she rubbed her wrist.

"That is because there are some changes that need to be made before you move on to your next mission."

They all whipped around to see the Timebroker approaching them. He had a smug little smile on his face.

"We should have known. So what now? Where are the replacements?" Blink snapped wiping her remaining tears.

"Before they arrive, there are a few things I need to do first. I would like to congratulate Calvin. After that mission you are now free to return home."

"No! Not now!" Calvin and Blink shouted in unison.

Blink ran to his arms and just as she kissed him he was gone. She turned and faced the Timebroker, her anger building. He held up a hand and she stopped as he pointed to their right.

"Here are your three new members. They have already been filled in on what the purpose of the Exiles is and who you all are. I want you to meet IceyLink."

The figure that appeared was a blue and white looking robot of some kind, but not quite a robot. Timebroker informed them that IceyLink was actually a very advanced Holographic A.I. built by Tony Stark. Where it came from, Tony Stark had never built a suit of armor. Instead he had created a very high tech computer system/holographic being. IceyLink was solid, but thanks to this world's computers he could tap into them and sustain his being.

The next person to appear was a very skinny man with long hair tied back in a ponytail. His name was Leonard Banner, or Dr. Gamma. He was the mutant son of Bruce and Betty Banner. He could call forth the gamma radiation in his blood, making him grow taller and muscular. The only things that turned green were his hair and eyes.

The last figure was a black man in a red and blue costume with a white star on his chest, white gloves, and a white eye mask. He also carried a shield with the colors of the American flag. His name is Lemar Hoskins, code named BattleStar. On his world, he was the first super soldier. There no one knew of Captain America, they only knew BattleStar.

"Now, one last piece of business." Timebroker stepped aside to reveal Nocturne.

"Nocturne!" Clarice screamed as she ran and gave her a hug.

"What is going on?" Morph asked.

"I don't know. One minute I was with the X-Men, the next I'm here," Nocturne stated.

"As you all can see, we are back on Beak's Earth. With his bravery he has earned the right to come back and Nocturne can join you." Beak jumped up and down in excitement waving his new hammer StormBreaker around. "Your wife will never realize you were gone. To her no time will have passed and those memories of you leaving will be cleaned."

"Wait a minute. Not that I want to complain, but I don't want to leave. I have really found a home here," Nocturne said.

"Well, here's the deal. You all have 24 hours to rest and relax. Since only one of you can stay and the other must go, Beak and Nocturne must decide which one of them stays."

With that the Timebroker was gone. Everyone began to talk as Beak slipped away. He was a little confused. He really wanted to be back with his wife and kids, but then again traveling with the Exiles made him a hero. As he walked he stumbled upon a kid in a wheelchair of some kind working on what looked like a small craft.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Oh, my. I didn't think I would be discovered out here," the kid started saying and then froze when he got a look at Beak. "You're a mutant."

"Yeah, name's Barnell, but my friends call me Beak. Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

"No, that's okay. I'm a mutant too. My name is Takashi, but I go by WizKid."

"Nice to meet you. What are you doing?"

"My power is to Technoform, and I am trying to build a time machine. I just can't create enough power to see if it works."

"Maybe my magic hammer could?"

Beak held out StormBreaker and tried to call on its power. As he did that, WizKid tried to use his powers to work on the time machine and merge with the hammer's power.

"Beak, what are you guys doing?" Clarice shouted as all the other Exiles walked toward them.

Beak jumped with fright and dropped his hammer on the time machine. Suddenly the machine burst in a flash of light that submerged all of them. Immediately all eight of them found themselves sitting inside the machine. The time-jet lifted up and exploded in a flash of light, disappearing.

"What is happening?" Morph screamed.

"I don't know, but the counter is counting back in time so we must be heading to our destination. I can't believe my time machine is working!" WizKid said out loud.

Suddenly, in a flash of light, the time-jet appeared in the middle of space.

"Where are we? Why are we sitting here in space?" Blink shouted.

"I don't know. According to the counter we went farther back in time than I had wanted to go," WizKid said in a panic as he and BattleStar looked at each other and scanned the piloting controls.

"I don't know what's going on, but besides all of you and this jet I have no connections or feelings with anything anywhere. I can't go anywhere but here in the jet. It is the only source for my power," IceyLink said.

"Should I teleport us out of here?" Blink asked.

"No!" BattleStar yelled. "We can't do that till we know for sure if we are in a virtual reality or really in the past. If we try and teleport and for some reason are not where we thought we were, something bad could happen to all of us."

"Yes, Lemar is right. Let's wait till we can get this jet under control and assess the situation," Nocturne said.

"Oh my! Look at that!" shouted Dr. Gamma pointing at a viewing screen.

They all watched as a stream of cosmic rays passed right behind them and went right through the final gleam of the closing portal they had come out of. Suddenly the glimmer exploded, sending the time-jet thrusting through another portal and then changing the color of the cosmic rays as they continued on their same path.

"Okay, how can that happen if we're not suppose to be tangible?" BattleStar asked WizKid in regard to how he thought time machines worked.

"I don't know. Something tells me that something very bad has happened," WizKid stuttered.

They all stared as in another explosion a portal opened and they shot out and forward. Blink shook her head as she thought she saw, where the portal was now closing, glimmers of broken rainbow bridge pieces.

"Okay, everyone, brace yourselves," BattleStar yelled. "The Earth is dead ahead and we're going in for a crash landing. WizKid, you and Beak use your powers and that hammer to try and form some sort of shield around the ship so we don't blow apart. Me and IceyLink are going to try and stir the time-jet."

Everyone prepared themselves as they entered Earth's atmosphere. They survived the entry into Earth. They were so focused on the descent that they didn't notice a piece of the time-jet breaking off and veer off in great force. They also didn't notice that the piece had propelled itself right into the back engine of a passing BlackJet with an "X" on it. The BlackJet's back engine ignited and the BlackJet exploded into two pieces.

"Here we go, folks, looks like our journey is about to end. WizKid, Beak, hold that shield," BattleStar yelled as Blink realized how easy he fell into leadership.

Suddenly the time-jet crashed into the middle of a street. Thanks to the shield, the jet stayed in one piece. The only damage was a cracked street under them. They all stared forward as a high school bus slammed on its breaks, stopping an inch from the front of the time-jet. BattleStar looked around and saw everyone, for the most part, was okay.

"Well, I have a bad feeling we're actually in the past," Morph stated taking the form of Ben Franklin.

"I think you might be right. Okay, IceyLink, are you getting anything?" BattleStar asked.

"No. My only connection is still the jet and the team," IceyLink reported.

"Okay, here's the plan. From what I can tell, if we're in the past, all we've done is crashed into a street. I think we are fine in assuming that we won't cause any disruptions in time. Let's get this thing powered up and see if we can get back to when we came from," BattleStar said.

As kids got off the bus and crowds started to form, they went to work getting the time-jet going. With the help of IceyLink and Beak's hammer, WizKid got the jet powered up and in the air. They crossed their fingers as WizKid put on the headpiece and chanted 2004. In a flash they lifted up into the air and just as the time-jet was going to blast off, they exploded in a flash of light.

In an explosion of light the time-jet appeared. WizKid looked around and saw that everyone was all right. He then glanced at the monitor.

"Well, according to the counter we are in 2004, but there is no more power left to the ship. I can't even get a visual on the screen to see where we are." WizKid stated.

"Well according to my hammers senses, we are back to the exact day we left from and we are sitting on the spot we first took off from," Beak reported. He was still amazed how the hammer's knowledge flowed right into him and how quickly he was learning how to use it.

BattleStar stood up and looked at IceyLink, "Get any readings?"

"No I don't. I can't even feel the ship. The ship was the only thing keeping me from blinking out all together." IceyLink stated with what seemed like fear.

"Maybe I can help. I know you are not human, but maybe I can posses you and help you connect to a power source." Nocturne walked over and then leapt into IceyLink. In an explosion of light Nocturne was gone, but the body of IceyLink lay on the ground and looked more female in form.

"Nocturne!" Blink yelled.

"It's okay. I'm fine. Did I help IceyLink?" the body of IceyLink said with Nocturne's voice.

"Something's not right here," Morph said turning into Sherlock Holmes and holding a magnifying glass at IceyLink.

"Oh no! What did I do?" T.J. asked as she looked down at her hands.

After a few minutes they realized with the time jump had affected their powers and backlashed when she tried to possess IceyLink. Nocturne could not leave; she was trapped in IceyLink's body, and IceyLink's mind was gone completely. Only difference was that with Nocturne's mutant "hex-blast" powers she generated her own power source. Blink reassured her they would find a way to separate her from IceyLink when they got back to the Timebroker.

"I feel bad for IceyLink, but he was only a computer program, right?" Nocturne said as she modified her body more. "On the bright side I can still look like me, just a little more on the holographic side. I can't touch my possession powers, but I'm able to 'feel' what this being can do."

They all tried to cope as WizKid used his powers to make a doorway for them to exit the ship. They all stepped out onto the ground below and stood in shock. Something was wrong. They were not standing on a grassy field near a university at all. Actually there was no university whatsoever. They were standing in the middle of what looked like a deserted battlefield. There was rubble and destruction everywhere. They all looked at each other.

"Where are we and what happened?" Blink asked.

Before anyone could answer, a shadow fell over them. They all looked up and saw three huge robots standing over them.

_Mutants detected. 5 mutants are unknown and unregistered. One unknown life form and one unregistered power-enhanced human detected. Please surrender the mutants. If you refuse, you will be confirmed as non-compliant to the mutant registration law and will be detained or destroyed._ One of the robots said.

"Oh my god! These are Sentinels, mutant hunting robots. We need to get out of here guys," Blink yelled.

Since they had resisted and didn't comply, the three robots advanced on them. On instinct, Beak flew at one of the robots and swung his hammer. The hammer hit the robot in the head and only caused a dent.

"What the --?" Beak exclaimed as the robot blasted him with eye blasts.

BattleStar ran to his side as he hit the ground. Beak got up quickly. This wasn't going to be too easy, but thankfully the hammer's power had enhanced his abilities and made him somewhat invulnerable. These were one tough set of robots. Morph shifted into a giant sludge hammer and slammed the head off one of the robots. Dr. Gamma then powered up and picked up the body and used it as a bat as he swung and knocked the other two robots back. He then shrunk back down to normal size.

"I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore and that we are in very big trouble. We need to get out of here," Blink said.

"Yes, you are right, Clarice. You all are in a whole heap of trouble," they all jumped at the voice.

They all turned around and saw a tall, old man in a white suit and white hat. The old man then snapped his finger and the whole world got fuzzy and then blanked out ...

**Next: Issue #2 – Time Quake – Part One**


	3. Time Quake Part One

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #2 – Time Quake – Part One**

For eternity it seemed like there was nothing. In all reality, it was only a few minutes with something all around them. The fuzzy white went into focus and the seven members of the new Exiles found that they could see again. BattleStar looked around quickly. He realized that they were all standing in a pure white square room. There was nothing else in the room except seven white chairs facing a white screen. BattleStar jumped as Blink touched his shoulder to calm the new comer.

"Where are we? What is going on?"

"I don't know. It doesn't make any sense. One minute we are taken on a ride by WizKid's device, the next we find ourselves in some place being attacked by giant robots. Then some guy shows up and we find ourselves in this room," Beak replied.

"Speaking of which, who was that guy and where is he?" Dr. Gamma asked aloud.

"Well if you would all take a seat I will explain everything. For once, time is something we don't have," The man in white said as everyone jumped at his mysterious appearance.

"We are not doing anything until you tell us what is going on," BattleStar proclaimed.

The man in white looked at the seven heroes and then tipped his white hat. As he turned around to face the screen he snapped his fingers. In a white flash, all seven heroes found themselves sitting in the white chairs. The man in white turned back around to face them.

"If you would calm down, you would realize that is what I am trying to do," the man in white told them. "We don't have a lot of time. For now, I have frozen time, and placed all of you in a spot, temporarily outside of time. I won't be able to hold this for long. You seven have caused some serious trouble."

"Trouble... What kind of trouble? We didn't do anything," Dr. Gamma asked.

"The Tallus is gone. Where is the Time Broker?" Blink asked.

"Oh you guys caused all kinds of trouble. This time I have been forced to take charge of you over your usual time sending ward. Not only did you go back in time, you disrupted the whole time continuum. Now sit back and listen. I will explain everything so pay attention, for you seven are the only ones who can fix this," The man in white said as he snapped his fingers and the screen began to play as he told his tale. "As some of you may not be aware, there are all kinds of realities, universes, parallel worlds, etc., all flowing together in the time continuum. At all times there are branches and breaks creating more realities and such. There's never really that much to fear. That is because people like me, a time broker, watch over this and make sure everything stays in check. Sometimes ripples occur minor and even major, where we have to step in and fix it fast. Overall there has never been a major threat, until now. Thanks to you seven. You see, when you went back in time, you set up a chain of events that created ripples in time. Cosmic rays were altered; rainbow bridges were broken, so on and so forth. Normally, if something like this happens, it causes the main time line to branch off into a possible or alternate reality. But, with you seven, something happened that set you outside the timeline. So when you changed history, it actually altered the main time line and continuum. You set in motion ripples in time, ripples and individuals that were somehow also set outside the time line. So as the main reality kept pushing forward to correct itself, these ripples kept working outside the timeline creating more ripples. For example, even though the original founders of the Avengers were different now, all the same events happened along with the same people joining through all the years, just with minor changes. But with each new ripple or outsider being created, it was getting harder and harder for the main timeline to correct itself."

"As you seven traveled back to what you thought was your present, the same time you left, you reached a world suffering the effects of the twelfth ripple. The timeline is on a crash course. Never has a reality or a timeline reached a twelfth ripple," The man in white reported.

"So can there be a thirteenth ripple and if so what would happen?" WizKid stuttered realizing what he had created and done.

"There can't be a thirteenth ripple!" The man in white screamed. "You see when the twelfth ripple was created; it set in motion a bad course. Senator Kelly, the main man wanting to eliminate the mutants of the world, decided to run for president. He already tested out his sentinel program with Trask, the sentinel creator. The timeline tried one last attempt to right the time line. It sent in an operative to kill Senator Kelly. For with him dead, the sentinel reign would end and all would be as normal, if it wasn't for the twelfth ripple stepping into the picture."

"The twelfth ripple, or Outsider, as we call them, went to kill the Senator too. The twelfth Outsider killed the wrong person. By killing the wrong person, it set in motion for Senator Kelly, to become President. The President and vice-president Grynch took control and with newly appointed Secretary of Defense Trask and Head of the Judiciary William Stryker, they unleashed the Sentinels and the Earth is as you saw it now," The man in white explained with fear.

"So how do we fit into this picture? Will we recognize the people we once knew?" WizKid asked.

"I was just getting to that. Since you seven did this you seven must fix it. You see, somehow with you seven being set outside the timeline, it's as if you never existed. No one will know you, for you, to this world, never existed. That is why you have the power to interact and set things right. You must correct it and do it fast for time is running out," The man in white said.

"What is it we have to do?" Morph asked as he took the form of a detective.

"You must stop the thirteenth ripple from occurring. You see, at some given time, something will happen that will cause President Kelly to mentally fuse with Master Mold, the advanced computer system used to create and control the Sentinels. You must find the twelve Outsiders, convince them to abandon this world, join your cause and destroy Master Mold and President Kelly. If you do that, all will revert back to the way it should be, and all of time will be saved," The man in white smiled.

"What happens if we refuse to do this or we fail to stop Master Mold and President Kelly from merging into the thirteenth ripple?" Blink asked.

"Well, the thirteenth Outsider will take control of all machines. It will make all machines turn against all human life, mutant, and normal or super powered. Machines will wage war against human life on Earth. One year after this, there will be a huge war and the thirteenth ripple will cause the Earth to explode creating a Time Quake. This Time Quake will be so massive that it will set a chain reaction causing all realities, universes, etc., to no longer exist. This Time Quake will cause all time itself to cease to exist. None of you, or even me and the time brokers will exist. Everyone, everything; all time will be gone. All will be no more," the man in white shivered.

"So basically, we have to right what we have wronged or all will cease to exist?" BattleStar asked.

"Welcome to the Exiles," Nocturne laughed through the voice of IceyLink.

"Yes, and I am not ready to be without a life let alone a job," the man in white snickered.

"So how much time do we have, and how do we find these Outsiders without a Tallus?" Blink asked.

"We don't know when the thirteenth ripple will occur but it will be soon. As to how to find them, you can use this," the man in white said snapping his fingers and wristbands appeared on all their wrists.

"What is this?" BattleStar asked.

"It is a Tallut, a small branch of a Tallus. What this Tallut will do is tell you the names and descriptions of all twelve Outsiders. Only thing is, it can't tell you where they are. Because of the nature of the Outsiders being ripples placed outside the time continuum we can't track them," the man in white said.

"Wait a minute! How are we going to succeed in time if we have no clue where they are at?" BattleStar shouted.

"Well, when you return to time, you will be near at least one. I suggest you first find the one named Sable," the man in white said as he tipped his hat.

"Where do we find this Sable?" BattleStar started to ask a series of questions and then stopped.

Things had gone white again and now they found themselves standing in the middle of an alley. The man in white and the white room were gone. BattleStar looked down and saw that the Tallut was on his wrist. He turned to the others.

"Well looks like we are all on our own. Only question is how do we find this Sable, and how in the hell are we going to fix all this in time?" BattleStar asked as he shook his head.

"I still think this seems all too unbelievable," WizKid mumbled.

"Well I can. Trust me I have done time traveling. It is just part of being an Exile. No matter what we believe, we have to fix this. Whether we like it or not, we caused this and we have to fix this," Blink sighed.

"I agree with Blink. I think we need to see what the Tallut can tell us about this Sable and then go from there," Dr. Gamma agreed.

BattleStar nodded and then looked at the Tallut. Without saying a word the thing ignited like it knew what he wanted. A holographic image came out of the Tallut displaying a picture and a name Sable. The image was of a beautiful long dark haired woman. She wore a red and brown costume with a red facemask. She also wore golden wristbands and had a huge, silver "S" on her chest.

"Well that's all it says. I think before we decide what to do we should probably get out of this alley and into a safe building. We don't want to be detected. Especially since all of you being mutants could get us detected by those giant robots," BattleStar pointed out.

"You're not going anywhere you super freak. According to the cyber-bands, you are harboring five unregistered mutants and an alien life form. We are taking you all in for a reward," came a voice.

The seven members of the Exiles turned at the voice and saw that they were trapped on both ends of the alley by a group of people wearing helmets of some kind. They also wore a sort of backpack with cords attached to gauntlets on their hands and boots on their feet. They didn't know who these people were but they knew they had to get out of there.

"Okay team, let's take them out fast and quick and get out of here," BattleStar said as he assumed command with ease.

Before they knew what hit them, two guys shot out electrical blasts from their gauntlets at the team. While they worked to deflect and avoid the blasts they didn't notice four guys flying up and sticking to the walls with their boots, two on each wall. They also didn't see the other four run to the same spots on the ground. Suddenly the eight figures hit their gauntlets and slapped something on their point and an energy field came up trapping the Exiles in a force containment field. They were trapped in an energy cube.

"BattleStar, I can't seem to break through the energy field," Dr. Gamma shouted as he pounded his fists at the field.

"That's because you can't. This is a containment cube designed to absorb any force thrusted at it. I can't believe it. You guys mustn't be much of anything to have been caught so easily. I mean, catching seven of you in such a short amount of time. Needless to say the authorities will be here shortly and we can collect our reward," one of the men laughed.

The members of the Exiles looked at each other. They hadn't even started their mission and they had already been caught. Just as BattleStar began to assess the situation they heard a commotion and watched in shock. On the right side of the cube they saw the figure recognized as Sable land in front of the group. With fast reflexes she was using her ninja skills and glowing yellow sias to take down the group of people. She quickly flipped in the air and waved her arms. Suddenly dozens of yellow ninja stars flew hitting the eight corners of the energy cube. Suddenly the energy field flickered and vanished. They stood there in awe.

"Don't just stand there. Help me take them down so we can get out of here. I'm sure the authorities will be here soon," Sable shouted as she kept in action.

BattleStar quickly shouted his team into action. Beak swung his hammer and managed to send many flying backwards. Blink shot out blast after blast teleporting the men away. Soon in a matter of moments all the members of their captures were down and out. Sable then motioned for them to follow her and she took off. They quickly followed. Soon they found themselves in underground living quarters.

"Who were those guys back there?" Blink asked.

"Those were Cyber-Hunters. They are a gang of people who hunt mutants and super powered or normal outlaws. They do it to try and get a reward. Technically what they are doing is illegal, but if who they catch is worth anything, the government tends to look the other way.

"Okay, now who are you people? Don't waist my time either. The only reason I saved you was because my quantum bands compelled me to that alley and through them I couldn't feel your existence," the lady named Sable said as she faced them.

"Well, we are the Exiles," BattleStar started to say but was then cut off.

"Exiles... Where are you from? I don't recognize any of you and my bands can't read you," Sable questioned.

"Weather you believe us or not, we are all from alternate realities. I am Blink, this is BattleStar, Dr. Gamma, Morph, Beak, WizKid and our friend Nocturne is currently trapped in the artificial form of the advanced holographic being IceyLink." Blink introduced them all and then told Sable their tale of going back in time, the man in white and their mission and of her being one of the twelve Outsiders.

Sable sat there in silence. She closed her eyes and the bands around her wrist began to glow. She then opened her eyes and stared at them. She then approached BattleStar.

"As you are aware from your Tallut, I am Sable. These around my wrist are some kind of power bands. I accidentally came across these and they were fused to my wrists. I can't remove them nor do I know the full potential of their power. What I know is by just thinking they create energy weapons for me. Another thing they do and I can't explain it, but they provide some kind of awareness for me. They tell me that your words are true and that they make me feel that I must help you for there is some kind of grave peril. Plus, I have always felt that my destiny took a different turn than destined. For these reasons, I vow to help you, plus, I agree the president and his cabinet must be stopped."

At that moment, the Tallut flared and her image came up and then disappeared. BattleStar noticed that the Tallut had twelve circles going around it and one of them lit up. BattleStar then looked at the Tallut and before he could even say what he was thinking it was running through the other eleven images for Sable. After a brief scan Sable approached him.

"I think our best bet is Silver Stranger. Out of the eleven, he will offer the best assistance and he also lives here in New York. That is if he will help us," Sable said as she looked at everyone.

"What do you mean if he will help us?" Blink asked.

"Well, he disappeared around the time the Sentinels waged their war. When he finally reappeared, he and his living quarters sealed themselves away from the world. No one has seen or heard form him since."

"Well that doesn't make sense. How can he be here in New York and help us if he is gone?" Beak asked.

"Well, the world thinks he is gone, but thanks to my power bands here, I can feel that he is still here. I can't explain it, but with these bands, I can lead you to him," Sable said. "The fact that he is one of the Outsiders makes a lot of sense."

"What do you mean by that?" BattleStar asked.

"Well, not much is known about this person. Many years ago there was this great battle off Earth against this being called Galactus. In the final moments when all was lost, this Silver Stranger appeared out of nowhere. He single-handedly defeated Galactus. He then took over the late Dr. Strange's house. No one knows who he is or where he came from, but he had proved himself time and time again," Sable explained.

"Well I say we get going and pay this Silver Stranger a visit," Blink insisted.

"Yes, but we will have to move quickly. We may not be safe with most of you being mutants. Being mutants you will set off any Sentinel devices within radar unlike my layer here, which is protected and no detection can penetrate my home. My power bands can only shield so many of us out there," Sable said.

"Well, then we should be safe to split up. Why don't just a few of us head out with Sable while the others stay here. Then that way we won't stick out so much. After we get Silver Stranger's help we can return here and get the others and head out from there," BattleStar suggested.

"I agree, but who should go and who should stay?" Blink asked.

"Blink and Dr. Gamma will come with me and Sable. The rest of you will stay behind."

"Good idea BattleStar. I think I can use IceyLink's abilities with the Tallut to act as a communication link between the two groups," Nocturne suggested.

With agreement, BattleStar and his team followed Sable quickly out of the hidden hideout. Sable moved fast, letting her power bands guide them. They didn't know how long it would take them to reach their destination but they hoped it would be soon.

---

In a secret room of the White House, a man entered the room. He looked at the small room filled with only a small rectangular table with seven chairs, three on each side and one chair at the head of the table. The man took a seat at the head of the table. He could do so because he was the President after all. President Kelly awaited his Cabinet to arrive.

As he had made his bid for presidency, Senator Kelly had made sure he had all the right people in the right spots. Once he had gained the role as President, he appointed his men to certain positions and formed his great Cabinet. With their help he had taken over the world and ruled whether the people realized they liked it or not. He had manipulated the people, and as long as his platform was to eliminate all mutants, he would always win their votes.

President Kelly looked up as the first person arrived, his Vice President, Peter Henry Grynch. Thanks to his involvement within the government, he made a great asset. His control over all government operations, programs and sponsored teams, allowed him to take complete control over all non-mutant super powered beings and teams, including the Avengers. Those who refused became outlaws and were subject to prison, punishment or worse. Vice President Grynch took his seat to the right of the president.

Next through the door came Secretary of Defense Trask. Trask was the creator, inventor and brilliant mind of the Sentinel program and robots. Thanks to Trask he was able to send out a legion of mutant hunters. With Trask's Sentinels, Kelly could hunt, police, control and eliminate the mutants of the world. Trask spent his days in the hidden Sentinel base. He watched over Master Mold and the central production and controlling of the Sentinels, he was the President's eye on the country. He took his seat to the left of Kelly.

Next walked in Head of Judiciary and Law was Judge William Stryker. His philosophy on God and mutant elimination made him the best man in charge of all law and courts. Any person's final fate was not decided on in the courts but by Judge Stryker. He oversaw the Country Prison, Vampire Isle and all law enforcement. His main office was in New-Canada. There he ran and oversaw all operations of the Mutant Concentration Camp. Those mutants allowed to live were brought to him there. Their fate was then in his hands, not Gods. Judge Stryker sat next to Grynch.

Next walked in Master Fury. Nick Fury was the best at what he did. He was on of the best secret agents and enforcement operatives. Master Fury was Grynch's right hand man. Master Fury not only helps control and lead the Avengers but also heads a secret division called S.H.I.E.L.D. Their job was to go in and execute missions that no one was to know about or tie back to the United States Government. If it wasn't for Master Fury, President Kelly may have had more non-supporters. Master Fury took his seat next to Trask.

The next person to walk in was a beautiful woman. Lady Deathstrike was Judge Striker's right hand person. She controlled, trained and led the Hounds. The Hounds were an underground secret police. Those given an immediate death sentence, with no chance of appeal, became hunted by the Hounds. The Hound's job was to hunt find and slaughter all mutants or sometimes non-mutants that tried to escape and hide judgement. Lady Deathstrike sat next to Striker.

The last person to come in was Treasurer Norman Osborne. After the elimination of the Kingpin and all other criminal threats, Kelly had appointed Norman as head of organized crime. His job was to keep an eye on the criminal world and report back to the President. Those that lived past their use or posed a real threat were taken care of. Plus, there had to be a secure way of supplying the Government with the necessary money they needed. Norman took the last chair. The Cabinet was ready to meet.

"Thank you all for coming so quickly. Some things have happened that requires our immediate attention. Trask if you could be so kind as to start," President Kelly instructed.

"Thank you Mr. President. I had reports come in from my Sentinel mainframe. Seven beings appeared in the middle of Manhattan. A squad of Sentinels was patrolling the area and detected five mutants and investigated. The mutants were in the company of an alien-like artificial being, and a Super Human. All seven are not registered. They took out the Sentinels with ease and escaped," Trask reported

"Yes, and I took their images and scans and used my resources to do a background check. I came up with nothing, it's like these seven never existed and came from no where," Master Fury added.

"How odd. My contact within the Cyber-Hunters reported to me that he and a group of his men encountered seven beings, matching those descriptions. They had them captured until Sable stepped in and freed them," Norman reported.

"Osborne, what of this group of Cyber-Hunters that failed to capture them?" President Kelly asked.

"Don't worry they were taken care of immediately after they reported to me. One of them was able to follow and for the first time we have an idea were Sable's hideout may be," Osborne reported.

"Blast that Sable. She's been on my list for ages," Fury swore.

"I've got a feeling that this group could hold problems for us. I've come too far to have my country taken away from me. Norman, I want you to send a group into Sable's location and bring them in, preferably alive, but dead if no other means. I want you to send in a group, that if anything goes wrong, can be pinned as criminal activity and we can clean up quickly with no ties to us," Kelly commanded. "It will be done."

"Once they are brought in we can take matters from there. Meeting adjourned," Kelly said as they all left the room.

"Hi, Liz... Can I speak to Harry?" Osborne said as he walked out activating his cell phone.

---

"Here we are. We've reached the sanctuary of the Silver Stranger."

"Are you sure? This is nothing but a vacant lot," Blink asked looking at BattleStar and Dr. Gamma.

"It's here. Now let me try something," Sable said.

Sable held out her hands and her bands began to glow. Yellow goggles appeared and were placed on each of their faces. Suddenly they realized that they no longer saw the vacant lot but a huge mansion. Sable then waved for them to follow.

"How's this possible?" BattleStar asked.

"The bands make your eyes aware of the illusion. We must get inside quickly before someone sees us," Sable said as she knocked on the front door of the large mansion.

The door quickly opened and an old ancient man answered the door.

"Go away. You are not welcomed here," said the old man.

"Wong, you have to let us in. It's very important that we speak to Silver Stranger. We are in dire need of his help," Sable pleaded.

"He's not here. Now go away before I call security," Wong yelled as he slammed the door in her face.

Sable turned to the others making the goggles disappear. She shook her head. "I'm sorry. We'll have to come up with another plan."

As Sable lead the others away from the lot they stopped in their tracks. Standing in front of them was a green creature. The creature pointed both hands at the group of heroes and whispered a few words. Before any of them could react, a blast of bright light flew at them and engulfed them. When the light faded, the group of heroes was gone. The only thing that remained was an empty lot.

---

"So, IceyLink, how are the others fairing?" Beak asked.

"Beak, please call me by my real name. I will," Nocturne started to say and then she blinked out.

"What happened? Where did she go?" WizKid asked.

"I don't know, I can't get a signal from her. She isn't responding, Captain," Morph asked taking the form of Captain Kirk and tapping his Tallut.

"Maybe we should go out and look for them. Maybe something happened to them," WizKid said shifting in his wheel chair.

"I agree. Let's hurry," Beak said raising his hammer.

The three headed for the door that led out of the hideout. Suddenly there was a loud rumble. Without warning the entire room exploded and engulfed itself in flames. Soon the whole hideout came crashing down, in on itself engulfing the three in smoke and fire.

**Next: Issue #3 – Time Quake – Part Two**


	4. Time Quake Part Two

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #3 – Time Quake – Part Two**

The explosion was a big one and when the smoke cleared there was nothing but rubble. What had once been the hideout for Sable was now a wasteland. After a few moments, a section of the rubble exploded upwards as Beak flew out trailing his enchanted hammer. Morph stepped out after him with WizKid in his arms. Morph sat him down as WizKid quickly reformed his hover-chair.

"Good work, WizKid. If you hadn't turned your chair into a barrier at the last moment and allowed me to reinforce it with my hammer, we would have been done for," Beak said landing near them.

"Well look what we have here, a few survivors. Looks like the Cyber Hunters didn't do the full job. Looks like we get to finish the job," shouted a voice behind the three members of the Exiles.

They turned around to see that they were now surrounded by bunch of Cyber Hunters.A man who was covered in dark green armor and a grotesque facemask was commanding them. He was hovering in the air from some kind of jets on his ankles. Behind him were five other figures, but they couldn't make them out.

"Who dares try to attack us," Beak shouts while WizKid and Morph takes his flanks.

"I dare! I am the Green Goblin, leader of The Six. Scorpion, Electro, Hydro-Man, Graviton and Mole Man, attack," the Green Goblin shouted.

The five shadowed figures came out into full view. Each person wore an armored suit. Scorpion wore a black armored suit with a huge tail attached to it. Electro wore a yellow armored suit with lightening bolts sticking out of his arms and legs and facemask. Hydro-Man wore a blue armored suit that looked like it was a mix of iron and water. Graviton wore a purple armored suit while Mole Man wore a brown armored suit with bright yellow goggles. Each of them bore a giant six on their chests.

Mole Man and Scorpion approached WizKid, while Graviton and Hydro-Man went after Morph. Green Goblin flew at Beak with Electro following him. Green Goblin instructed the Cyber Hunters to stand down and make sure they were not discovered in battle. The Six attacked with a vengeance.

Beak flew at the two, swinging his enchanted hammer. Green Goblin began to laugh causing Beak to stagger, and then out of nowhere flung two pumpkins. The pumpkins hit the staggered hero and exploded, throwing him off balance. With out missing a beat, Electro hurled a huge wave of electricity at Beak, sending him flying backwards into a building. The two villains took pursuit to make sure the job got finished.

Morph shifted to a monstrous form towering over Graviton and Hydro-Man. He swung his fist at Hydro-Man, but missed when he turned into water. Graviton called forth his powers and levitated himself up to Morph. Morph swung his monster-like fist at Graviton. Morph grunted as he realized he couldn't follow through with his punch, something had stopped his momentum. Suddenly gravity grabbed his whole body and smashed him down to the ground. Morph lay on the ground, unable to move a muscle, gravity had pinned him down. Hydro-Man then moved over to his head and surrounds it with his watery body, attempting to drown him.

WizKid called forth his powers and combined the rubble around him into his hover chair making a mini tank. He began firing off blasts at the two approaching villains. The blasts bounced right off of their armor. WizKid would need to come up with something more powerful. Suddenly, Scorpion's tail lashed out and struck his mini tank/hover chair causing it to explode. WizKid propped himself up. He lay helpless on the ground, without his hover chair. He called forth his powers to create something else to help him. He wasn't fast enough, for Mole Man was already attacking. Mole Man waved his arms and two weird creatures appeared out of the ground grabbing WizKid's arms and twisting them so the pain would break his mental concentration.

"Looks like this is the end of the road for you mutant," Scorpion said as he brought his tail up ready to strike a deathblow to WizKid.

---

The bright light faded and they were able to see again. BattleStar, Blink, Dr. Gamma, IceyLink and Sable quickly looked around. They were in a small room with a table and chairs. A green looking creature with horns stood in front of them.

"Who dares? Exiles prepare to attack," BattleStar exclaimed.

"Hold off BattleStar, this creature is not our enemy but a friend of the one we seek. This is Rintrah, ex-apprentice of the late Dr. Strange and the co-leader of the Secret Defenders," Sable said quickly.

"She is correct my friends. I mean you no harm. Wong was wrong in sending you away. I believe it is time for us and the master to come out of hiding and help retake this world. Follow me, I shall lead you to his greatness," Rintrah said as he beckoned them to follow.

Sable followed with BattleStar and his team right behind her. Just as they rounded a few corridors they came to a set of two huge doors. In front of the door were two figures talking. One was the old man, Wong, who had told them to leave earlier. The other was an old woman in a crimson robe. They both turned to look at the approaching party.

"Greetings, I must be allowed to enter. These people need to speak with the Silver Stranger."

"No, it is out of the question. Agatha, you must not allow them to enter. The master does not want to be disturbed," Wong pleaded.

"What is the meaning of this Rintrah?" Agatha Harkness asked.

"Mistress Harkness, you must allow us in. It is time to act, and I feel these are the ones destined to help save our world," Rintrah pleaded.

"You know he has sworn total isolation. He does not want to be bothered, unless his actual home is in danger," said Agatha.

"Agatha, please! I have seen the truth with my powers, we must speak with Silver Stranger or it could mean the end of this world as we know it," Sable cut in.

"Very well," Agatha said as she ignored Wong's protests and invoked a magic word.

The door shimmered and then opened. Rintrah led his party in and the doors closed behind them. They all looked around, as the room seemed to go on endlessly. They looked up and saw a large glowing object. The object began to pulse with power.

"You dare invade my sanctuary," a voice boomed, sounding as if it were speaking inside their minds.

"Many apologies master, but these strangers must speak with you," Rintrah stuttered.

"I told you I was never to be disturbed!" came the voice.

"Silver Stranger, it is time to come out of hiding, this world needs you again," Sable shouted.

"No, because of me and my Secret Defenders racing off into space, the sentinels were allowed to take over without me here to defend against them. Because of this I have vowed total isolation."

"You are wrong Stranger, if we don't act this world will come to an end. I have seen the truth of these people and my bands confirmed it. Please listen to us," Sable shouted throwing her arms into the air.

At that moment yellow beams of power shot out of Sable's bands. The yellow beams went directly at the glowing energy known as Silver Stranger. Silver energy shot out at the yellow beams and collided. Suddenly power and images flowed through everyone's minds as the story of the Exiles and the time quake played out. The light faded and everyone looked up as the energy reverted and a figure came floating down. A man wearing a blue costume with silver boots, gloves and facemask landed in front of them. The figure also wore a red cape clasped in front by a red skull. The Silver Stranger was now before them.

"What you say is correct, I can see it all clearly now. I truly never knew my origin or how I got here. It is clear I was never meant to be, and if helping you will save this world and make it as it should be, then the Silver Stranger will make amends."

"Thank you so much, Silver Stranger. What is our game plan," Blink asked as she noticed another circle light up on her Tallut.

"We must act quickly. Rintrah, summon all the Secret Defenders to the conference room. We must head out immediately."

"We have to go back and get the other three members of our team," BattleStar said quickly.

"We don't have time for that. My cosmic awareness tells me they will follow their own path in finding the other Outsiders," Silver Stranger answered while waving his hands.

A power erupted from his hands and in a blink of an eye, they all found themselves in a conference room. They all looked around and saw that Rintrah and twelve other figures were sitting around a table. Silver Stranger motioned for them all to take a seat and they did. Silver Stranger used his powers to create images as he talked.

"This will be no easy task to find and gather the other Outsiders. Some of them are in the mutant factions and with the enemy. We will save those for last and get to the easy ones first. We will divide up into three teams: one team will go seek out the Scarlet Spider. He leads the New Warriors and is based on the West Coast up near the New Canada boarder. The second team will head off to the Colorado Rockies, which is where I believe the She-Rock is hiding out. The third team will go into Vampire Isle to locate Blade," Silver Stranger comanded.

"Vampire Isle, how are we supposed to get there? It is surrounded by a powerful magic that once you enter a barrier doesn't allow anyone to escape," Sable questioned.

"I am aware of that. With a combination of our powers we can do it. When the team is ready to return, IceyLink will send a signal and Wong will invoke a magic spell. The spell will open a tiny hole in the barrier. Sable you will use your bands to link with it at that moment and cause your party to shrink and suck right through. Of course, I am assuming you want to go to Vampire Isle?" Silver Stranger asked.

"Yes I do. I have unfinished personal business there," Sable said reflecting back to a memory that almost brought a tear to her eye.

"How is IceyLink going to do as you say," BattleStar asked explaining IceyLink/Nocturne's nature.

"Like this," Silver Stranger said as he invoked his cosmic magic that surrounded Nocturne and then faded leaving IceyLink's form looking more like Nocturne.

"What did you do?" BattleStar asked.

"I used my magic to alter her. In solid form she can cast holographic images. She can become intangible, and in this form communicate through computers. That way she can signal the device," Silver Stranger answered.

"I don't believe it, despite my coloring and texture, I feel more like myself again but better," said Nocturne.

"Yes, in a sense. You have the ability to be solid or holographic at will," said the Silver Stranger. "Now, we need a member of each of your team BattleStar to go on one of the three missions. This way we can track the missions with the Tallut."

The team made their decisions based on where their powers would be best situated. Silver Stranger then confirmed the three teams. Blink and four members of the Secret Defenders would accompany Sable and Nocturne: Black Crow, Agatha Harkness, Fire Lord and Sleepwalker. Rintrah, Lockjaw, Lyja and Medusa would accompany Dr. Gamma to find She-Rock. The last team Silver Stranger would lead to find the New Warriors. His team would consist of the remaining members Diamondback, Black Bolt, Gorgon and Vibraxas along with BattleStar. Wong would stay behind to monitor the situation and keep an eye on the sanctuary and the Inhuman heir Luna.

They all wished each other good luck and departed. Magic invoked and the Vampire Isle team shrunk and vanished through a portal. Lockjaw used his power to teleport the She-Rock team away. Silver Stranger called forth his powers and opened a portal and his team stepped through. Soon Wong was alone hoping the best for all of them.

---

WizKid screamed as Scorpion's tail hit him dead in the stomach and his life passed before his eyes and he faded into darkness. Scorpion and Mole Man walked over to where the other four had Morph and Beak down on the ground. They all turned and looked their way.

"The mutant's dead," Mole Man laughed.

"No," screamed Morph and Beak in unison, but couldn't move due to Graviton.

"Good, now it looks like we only have two more to dispose of and we are out of here. The Cabinet will be pleased," Green Goblin laughed as he held up two pumpkin bombs.

"Not this time Goblin, Revengers reassemble," shouted a voice as a shield flew knocking the bombs out of his hand.

Goblin and his Six turned at the call to see their worst nightmare. Standing front and center, reclaiming his returning shield was a man dressed in red whit and blue with a giant star on his chest and the letter "F" on his forehead. Behind him were five other figures ready for battle.

"Captain Freedom and the Revengers," yelled Electro.

"That's right, and we are here to put an end to your game," Captain Freedom shouted.

"Thora, take out the Cyber Hunters. Vindicator, Nova, & Rhino forward attack. American Eagle, see to the Six's prey. Don't worry about the mutant friend of yours, our friend Skids used her powers to soften the blow. He is alive but barely. She is sneaking him deep into the layer of the Morlocks. They have a healer that will save him. He will be safe," Captain Freedom said as he dived at the Green Goblin.

Beak watched as the African-American woman dressed in Asgardian clothing raised into the air. She raised her enchanted hammer with one hand and held the other hand palm up into the sky. She called forth the power of her hammer and her mutant powers. The sky erupted with lightening as she threw her hammer. The hammer hit each member of the Cyber Hunters. At contact, lightening struck the Cyber Hunters and they vanished into ashes. The hammer came back into her hands.

"Cyber Hunters, taken care of," Thora exclaimed.

"Thora, I told you, Revengers do not kill," Captain Freedom yelled over his shoulder as he punched the Goblin.

"I didn't kill I used the combination of my powers and hammer to teleport them away. The ashes are their clothing and gear that didn't get teleported," she responded with offence.

"Rhino, you take Mole Man and Nova see what you can do about Hydro-Man. I get the Scorpion, me and him go way back," Vindicator instructed.

Mole Man used his powers to call forth a couple creatures from under the Earth. In full charge mode, Rhino plowed right through them knocking them through the air with ease. Rhino plowed into Mole Man, his sharp horn digging into Mole Man's armor. Rhino then flipped his head up sending Mole Man flying up into the air and miles away. Rhino grunted with satisfaction.

Hydro-Man turned into water as Nova approached. Nova dodged blast after blast of water, taking Hydro-Man out would be tricky. Nova then looked over and had an idea and flew off away from Hydro-Man, who stayed in pursuit. Nova stopped in his tracks and called forth his powers to make himself bright enough so you couldn't see past him on either side. Just as Hydro-Man was about to plow into him, Electro blaring full power charged from the other side. Nova then, at the last second, pulled his powers and blasted up into the air. Hydro-Man and Electro plowed right into each other, shorting each other out into unconsciousness.

Vindicator hovered over Scorpion. He just laughed at her as he lashed out his tail. Vindicator dodged it with ease. She had changed since their last battle and she couldn't wait. She pointed her arms out at the Scorpion and mentally commanded the battle suit. The battle suit around her arms shifted and changed and two canons formed around each wrist. Scorpion stared in shock as two powerful blasts hit him, one freezing his battle armor and the other casing him in cement. Vindicator smiled as she flew back toward the others.

American Eagle fired off a dozen arrows at Graviton. Graviton flicked his wrist and the arrows floated up and away.

"Foolish man, you think you can stop the power of Graviton," asked Graviton.

"Actually I was just hoping to distract you," American Eagle laughed.

Before Graviton could ask, a strong wind picked him up far into the air above. Graviton tried to use his powers on Thora, but failed. Thora's swinging of her enchanted hammer was repelling his gravitational pull. Suddenly the hammer was released and hit him dead in the chest plowing him backwards into a building. The last of Graviton's strength and consciousness vanished when Thora released a lightening storm upon him. Thora landed near American Eagle, who was helping up the two Exiles.

"Thanks, Ororo."

"The Six have all been taken out. The authorities will be here soon so we need to get out of here. We can do introductions and stories in a moment when we are safe," Captain Freedom said as he walked up tossing Green Goblin's body to the side.

"Thanks for the rescue and I agree. Where should we go," Beak asked.

"This way," Captain answered as he ran to the side.

Out of nowhere a black figure appeared and seemed to become black translucent. Beak and Morph stared as they saw members of Captain's team run right into the figure and disappear.

"Don't worry, that is Doorman. Passing through him will take you right to our secret headquarters," Captain said as he rushed them.

They quickly followed Captain and ran right into Doorman. When all members of the Revengers had gone into Doorman, he collapsed into himself and vanished.

---

President Kelly took his seat in front of the other six members of The Cabinet. He wasn't happy and it was time for some action. He looked at each member of his cabinet and then rested his eyes right on Treasurer Osborne. Everyone shifted his or her gaze from Kelly to Osborne. Osborne swallowed hard and prepared himself for the worst.

"What the hell happened? An easy mission to take out Sable and her headquarters turned out to be a disaster. Sable wasn't even there and the team you sent in ended up drawing tons of attention and being taken into custody. It was all over the news. Thank God, none of it was traced back to The Cabinet. I want a full report," President Kelly yelled.

"Well, Mr. President they had everything under control. The headquarters was taken out and they had three of the unknown mutants in custody. All would have been fine but Captain Freedom and the Revengers showed up and saved them. The young mutant would have been killed, but a member of the Morlocks grabbed him and took him into safety," Norman reported.

"Damn Captain Freedom and his team, I fear the appearance of these mysterious beings could be major trouble. It is time for The Cabinet to take action again to ensure our power. Here is what I want from each of you. Judge Striker, I want you to rule The Six as being innocent and pin this on the Revengers. I want news coverage to declare this as a terrorist attack from the Revengers, make the public see them as guilty and evil. This will make them outlaws even to their supporters. I then want you to send The Six to Country Prison. There was a report of an unauthorized entrance there that I believe was made by one of our mysterious guests. With the Six there they can hunt them down and report while also being safely put away from blowing our plan," Kelly said as Striker got up and left to set things in motion.

"Vampire Isle, you think that is necessary? Once sent there, they can never leave? They are my best underworld agents," Norman protested thinking of his son Harry.

"My decision is final. They blew it and I can't afford to have them running lose. You will have to recruit a new and hopefully a more reliable group," Kelly yelled.

"Yes sir," Norman snarled as he realized he would never see his disappointment of a son again, but there was always little Normie, his grandson.

"Grynch, I need you to get in touch with the Avengers. They are to hunt down and bring in all members of the Revengers, dead or alive. We will use them for a nation broadcast pinning them and executing them all for being the cause of all that has gone wrong," Kelly laughed as Grynch got up to go contact the Avengers.

"Shall I lead them," Master Fury asked.

"No, I have plans for you. I need you to send S.H.I.E.L.D. on a covert mission. For years stories have been disregarded, but a tip off has led us to believe that a town in Colorado is hiding a very powerful creature. This creature has a tie to us and must be brought in or eliminated. I need you to send them in and make sure it is all quickly covered up," Kelly comanded as Fury ran out of the room.

"Now, thanks to our young mutant being an unknown, we are only able to get a general tracking on him. Lady Deathstrike, I can give you the coordinates that will get you close enough to get the real scent and location. I want you to gather Weapon X and head to the secret safe underground mutant city of Avalon. We now have the means to find it and I want you to slaughter every last one of the Morlocks. It will be a true Mutant Massacre," Kelly laughed and Lady Deathstrike left the room.

"Trask, you will have to round up the Sentinels. I want the new wave you've been working on to be sent out. With the massacre, the mutants will be drawn out and all over the place. I want the new Nimrod-Class Sentinels there to round up and/or kill them all. I will let Striker know to prepare for shipments of mutants for the camps," Kelly said as Trask headed out.

"What about me Mister President," Norman asked since he was the only one left in the room.

"Well I was hoping you could do me a favor. It will give you a chance to redeem yourself. This will be a special mission, but the team can not know any details but the basics. As you know Utopia Vegas is it's own country within the United States. We can't enforce law or invade without risking a World War, ever since Arcade manage to buy, develop and convert the whole state of Nevada into a giant entertainment spot and change the states name after getting himself declared president and make it a separate entity. No thanks to the stupidity of our last president and the United Nations. Anyway, I heard a report that the escaped band of mutants we have been hunting all this time have been sited getting into Utopia Vegas and is hiding out there. Mutants are not allowed in there, but somehow they got in. I want you to get a team of criminals to get in there and try and cause destruction in the mutant's vicinity. All they will know is they are there to destroy a city. Arcade can not afford to let it continue on. So he will be in touch with you and for a price we can send in a group of Sentinels to capture them. While they are there saving the day three of the Nimrod-Class Sentinels (since they are the height of an average human) will sneak out of the sentinels and go hunt down the mutants. They got away once from me off that Island, but not this time. All I ask is that Forge is brought to me alive. I want personal payback. We will gain entry into Utopia Vegas to take out those runaway mutants and also gain money and good PR from Arcade and his country," Kelly smiled.

Norman ran out of the room to contact the team he would send in. Since his son was being sent off, there was only one person left he could trust to gather a team and lead them in blind secrecy. He wasn't worried since he would tell him that they would be captured and released back to safety. He picked up the phone and dialed a number. This time when Liz answered he asked for his grandson Normie.

---

Skids finally reached the tunnel that would lead to the hidden doorway to Avalon, the peaceful and safe city of the Morlocks. She knew she didn't have much time, the mutant was critical. Her powers kept the Scorpion's tale from killing but it still did internal damage. If she didn't get him to the healer fast, he would die. She stopped right outside the hidden doorway and gasped. WizKid took in one final breath and then quit breathing. Skids screamed and began to cry.

---

In a flash Lockjaw and his companions appeared at the base of a mountain. Rintrah motioned for them to be careful as they passed through the little mountain village. They had to go through it quickly and then make their way up the mountain. She-Rock would be found somewhere up the mountain. Rintrah cast a spell to make them invisible and they walked through the village. They had made it half way through the village when suddenly the ground under them moved and they found themselves hanging from a tree in an energy net. Dr. Gamma shifted and saw that now villagers, pointing guns at them surrounded them.

---

BattleStar and his team now stood near the central eastern boarder of California. According to Diamondback they had been teleported near the vicinity of the New Warriors base. They began to walk quickly when suddenly they were surrounded by hundreds of birds. They noticed that the birds were not attacking, just flying all around them as a close but safe distance. Then they noticed a man in a bird-like costume hovering in the air with two other floating figures on each side of him.

"Do not move a muscle. At the first sign of trouble, I will command the birds to attack," the birdman commanded.

"We don't take orders from no one," screamed Gorgon.

BattleStar tried to silence him but was too late. The birdman took threat in Gorgon's words and waved his hand. They all cringed as the hundreds of birds dived at them, with intent to kill.

---

The small portal closed and Sable's powers shut off. They seven member team looked around to get their bearings. They were standing in the middle of a town that was run down and in ruins. There wasn't a person in sight. Blink looked up and then stiffened, "I think we are in trouble."

"Why is that? Is it because we are on Vampire Isle and the sun has already set," Nocturne asked.

"No, I think she means, because of them," Sable said pointing upwards.

Everyone looked up to see that they were surrounded by a bunch of figures standing all over the rooftops. No one moved for what seemed like hours until the figures surrounding them leapt from the rooftops and dove right at them. The figures smiled as the moonlight glistened off of their fangs.

**Next: Issue #4 – Time Quake – Part Three**


	5. Time Quake Part Three

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #4 – Time Quake – Part Three**

The group of adventurers took defensive measures as dozens of vampires flew at them. The team (Nocturne, Blink, Sable, Black Crow, Agatha Harkness, Fire Lord and Sleepwalker) had just arrived on Vampire Isle, once known as the U.S. State Hawaii, once a beautiful island now a prison for villains, criminals and the unwanted with no way out. The team came here in search of the Outsider known as Blade. Their mission is to find him, convince him to join their quest and use their one and only way to escape the island to get back to safety, sounded easy till they found themselves surrounded by vampires.

Nocturne shifted to hologram form, which allowed her to remain safe form the vampires. She looked to see the other situations. Blink started sending out her psionic javelins all around easily dodging the creatures. Sable had used her bands to create swords and was flipping around beheading the creatures and killing them. Agatha and Fire Lord were shooting off blasts of fire at the creatures. Sleepwalker used is strength and reality warping powers to knock back the creatures. Black Crow used his spear and feather knives to ward off several of the vamps. As good as they were, the vampires kept coming in numbers and were beginning to become overwhelming.

"Hear my words, you are no match for my legion. The King offers you two choices, join our ranks or die," a man yelled standing atop a tall house.

"We'll never join you," screamed Sable.

"Very well then, take them my legion! At least save one for questioning," the man said again.

"You will not have them today Frank Drake. They have fallen under the protection of the Night Stalkers," a winged figure said coming out of the sky hurling a half dozen wooden stakes at the man on the roof known as Frank.

"Blade! My minions attack," Frank yelled as dozens of vampires flew up at the man known as Blade.

Blink looked up at the man called Blade. He hovered in the air with giant white wings. His skin was blue with long blond hair tied back in a tale. He wore a dark blue costume and boots with red straps on the boots and red patches on the legs. A giant red "X" crossed his chest. A belt and a single strap ran across his chest that held wooden stakes. In his hands he held two very impressive and beautiful swords. Looking at his face, Blink could tell the eyes and the fangs meant he was some how a vampire too. She could also tell, he was on her side.

With quick movements Blade flew through the air, killing vampire after vampire with precision and ease. Suddenly out of no where another vampire appeared and started killing vampires. To the other side a man in an all white costume with cape and cowl landed and started taking out vamps very quickly. All three moved without thought killing vampire after vampire. The odds were evening.

"Moon Knight, Hannibal King, help the new comers. I am going after Frank," Blade commanded.

"Not today Blade," Frank said as he pulled out his trusty gun and fired it at Blade.

The blast blinded him, but his two swords repelled the blast. When Blade looked Frank was gone. Blade flew back to the others. The remaining vamps had run off leaving the others safe for now. Blade walked up to Sable and spoke to her quickly.

"We don't have time for introductions right now. We are not safe out here. Follow us to our base where we can talk safely," Blade said as he took flight into the air and Moon Knight and Hannibal King followed. Those that could fly grabbed those that couldn't and followed their saviors to safety.

---

Six figures looked up as dozens of birds came out of the sky towards them. BattleStar, Silver Stranger and his Secret Defenders, Diamondback, Black Bolt, Gorgon and Vibraxas, had come to the West Coast in search of the New Warriors, which one of the Outsiders was a member of. The New Warriors was a branch of heroes that had gone underground on the west coast to rebel against President Kelly and his Sentinels in hopes of saving other heroes and mutants from the concentration camps of New Canada. They were all on their way when three figures and a hoard of birds attacked them.

The birds were almost on them. Silver Stranger threw up his hands and sent out a wave of cosmic magic. As each bird hit the magic barrier, it disappeared and reappeared, soaring off in the opposite direction. Silver Stranger then snapped his finger and a pulse went out and hit the man controlling the birds, causing him to lose his power over the birds. The other two figures were about to attack when Silver Stranger spoke.

"Stop! We do not come here to cause trouble. It is I, Silver Stranger. Me and my Secret Defenders have come back to Earth and seek the help of the New Warriors and your leader Scarlet Spider."

The birdman got to his feet and looked down at the six figures. He then nodded to himself and stared deeply at Silver Stranger.

"Darkhawk, G-Force, stand down. They are not our enemies, yet," the birdman said as he flew down in front of Silver Stranger. "The names Falcon, since you are rumored as the savior of Earth from Galactus, I will grant you your audience with our leader, even though you and your Defenders abandoned us when we needed you during the sentinel take over."

"Thank you Falcon," Silver Stranger said.

"Follow us. G-Force give us a little cover," Falcon said.

Suddenly G-Force became a cloud of smoke and covered the entire area. No one could see a thing. Darkhawk then began to glow a little and everyone closed his or her eyes. When they opened them they were standing in front of a cave entrance. They all stepped inside, as G-Force became solid and entered after them. BattleStar gasped as the cave opening then closed placing them in complete darkness.

---

Dr. Gamma and his team of Rintrah and Secret Defenders Lyja, Medusa and Lockjaw sat cramped in the net trap they had fallen in. They had come here to the Colorado Rockies to find the Outsider known as She-Rock. Just as they had stumbled upon a small town they had found themselves trapped and surrounded by people with guns. Dr. Gamma tried to think of what they should do next when a man holding two large guns approached them.

"Why are you here? This is a peaceful town and as the sheriff it is my job to ensure that," the man said.

"Sam! Sam Buchanon, what a surprise! It is I, Rintrah. We come in peace," Rintrah shouted.

"Rintrah? What are you doing here," Sam asked as he shot the net letting them all drops to the ground free.

"We are here to see She-Rock," Rintrah began and then with the help of Dr. Gamma told him of their quest.

"It all sounds a little far fetched. But then again, I have seen a lot of things in my time. Before I agree to tell you anything, I will take you to see the mayor, my wife," Sam said leading the five to a small cabin-like office building.

On the way Sam told Rintrah how after the big Midnight Sons battle he and Vickie Montessi had found this small town. They decided to protect these people by creating a safe hidden haven and protect their greatest secret. Sam had become the sheriff and after marrying Vickie, she became the mayor.

"So that means," Rintrah began.

"Yes, Jinx is here too. Vickie uses her powers to make us undetectable by sensors and such and Jinx uses his magic to protect and hide the town. He also spends a lot of his time with She-Rock and guarding her. We have built a safe and peaceful town. Hidden from the dangers of the outside world," Sam said.

They had all entered Vicki's office and made introductions and retold the tale. Vickie was glad to see Rintrah and used the time to try and catch up a little. She then looked at them and then shook her head.

"No, I can't let you take her. She has come along way, but in a violent world, I don't know how she would behave," Vickie said.

"Listen Vickie, let us talk to her and let her decide. You can't hide from the world forever. There has to come a time to fight back," Dr. Gamma said.

"Jinx," Vickie screamed as he magically appeared. "Take them up to see She-Rock. Be careful."

Jinx nodded as he waved his hands and they all disappeared. The five members found themselves standing in front of a snowy cave entrance. Jinx walked up to it.

"She-Rock. Can you please come out? There are some people here to see you," Jinx said.

After a few moments a large figure came out of the cave. It was a very large and muscular woman with long blond hair. Her skin was covered in orange rock. Her clothing was a blue costume with a "4" in the middle of the chest. It covered her whole body, but was torn enough to leave her orange rocky arms, legs, feet and hands exposed. She looked at the five people.

"Me She-Rock," She said.

"Hi, She-Rock, I am Dr. Gamma," He said as he began to slowly tell her why they had come.

"This not be real me," she asked confused.

"No. We need your help to destroy a very bad man. In doing so you will set things right. You will become your normal self, Sue Richards married to Reed," Dr. Gamma said.

"Me Sue, NO, Me She-Rock, Reed no love me," She said then paused. "If I help, I become normal and Reed will love me?"

"Yes. We need your help, please? "Dr. Gamma pleaded.

"Ok, She-Rock help," She said and Jinx went to lead them back as another circle lit up on every Tallut.

---

"Please help me, he is not breathing," screamed Skids as she ran into the hidden tunnels of the Morlocks.

"What is going on here," a woman in dark spiky hair and a patch over one eyes yelled.

"Callisto, he's a mutant. The Six tried to kill him. Captain Freedom asked me to bring him to the safe hidden city of the Morlocks. He isn't breathing, I need help," Skids said in tears.

Callisto led her to a small room. Skids placed WizKid upon a bed and stepped back. Two figures quickly came into the room. One was a beautiful blond haired woman and the other was an old man dressed like a wizard. They both placed their hands on WizKid and began to glow. The whole room was a blaze of bright light.

"You think he will live," Skids asked.

"I hope so. If Dagger and Healer can't save him than no one can," Callisto said.

Soon the light faded and Dagger and Healer stepped back. Skids watched as WizKid opened his eyes and then looked up at everyone.

"Where am I," he panicked.

"You are in the secret underground city of the Morlocks. This is the main place of safety that all mutants come to, to hide from the evil above. You were near death and Captain Freedom asked me to bring you here, especially since you're a mutant," Skids said.

"Wow," WizKid said as he used his powers to turn the bed he was sitting on into a wheelchair. "This is my power and thanks to them, I am paralyzed from the waist down," WizKid explained.

"Come with us," Callisto commanded as they all headed out of the room.

WizKid told them his tale as they gave him a tour of the Morlock City.

---

"As America can see, the Six were innocent. I have found that outlaws known as the Revengers were responsible. I have shown you the proof that they are the main cause of all our battles and troubles. As of right now, the Revengers are declared wanted dead or alive. Anyone helping them or associated with them will be prosecuted. If you see them, report it or help bring them in. Thank you," Judge Stryker declared in his nation's address.

Green Goblin leaned over and switched off the television. They had been cleared and now the Revengers would be toast. Green Goblin got up and walked over and peered out the plane window. They should be almost home, compliments of Stryker's private jet. As he looked out he noticed that the plane was over the ocean and just above Vampire Isle.

"Pilot what's going on? Why are we out here," Green Goblin yelled as the other members of the Six ran up to pear out the window.

At that moment, the plane made a loud noise and dived nose first into Vampire Isle taking the Six with it. You could barely hear the screams of the Six as the plane crashed into the Isle below.

---

"And now, the Vice President, Henry Grynch," Striker said as he left and disappeared.

"Thank you. Speaking on behalf of the President and the American people, I agree with Judge Stryker. We have spent so much time hunting those mutants that we have failed to realize the threat of outlaws and super powered beings that fight against us in favor of the mutants. With all the lives that were lost at the battle, I have declared a national execution. When we capture the Revengers, we will sentence them to death on national television. This will serve as a warning to those terrorists. As of right now, I am sending USAgent and the whole Avengers team out to find the Revengers and bring them in," Vice President Grynch declared with his address to the nation.

USAgent stepped in front of his team made up of the Hulk, Juggernaut, Hawkeye, Black Panther, Warbird, War Machine, Absorbing Man, Black Widow, Red Queen and Guardian. He looked at them all and then gave the signal.

"Avengers Assemble," he shouted as they all took to the air to bring in the Revengers.

---

A jet blasted towards Utopia, Vegas. Piloting the jet was Blue Goblin. Treasurer Osborne, or to Normie, Grandpa Osborne, had called him and told him that a group of mutants had kidnapped his father and that by faking an attack on Utopia, they would gain the money needed to free him and his team. So Normie donned on a goblin armor of blue and assembled another team of Six.

With Normie were Whirlwind, King Cobra, Molten Man, Rocket Racer and Typhoid Mary. There were not that many criminals left out there that would agree to a mission like this. These five knew that Normie and his family connections would protect them. Plus this was an easy, go in and raise some hell and pretend to get captured and then set free with a large paycheck. They made it into Utopia with ease and found the location and began causing damage.

Within moments the Mayor of Utopia, Arcade had called for help and made an agreement with the Cabinet. Soon five sentinels were approaching the New Six. While they were capturing them, three Nimrod-class sentinels slipped out and headed to a small building area. The Nimrods scanned and found the spot where the mutants were hiding. They blew in for the attack.

---

"This is it. We were able to track that mutant to here. When I give the word I want you to enter this opening and hunt. Kill all those in site. I want this to be a Mutant Massacre to end all massacres," Lady Deathstrike commanded.

She looked at her assembled members of Weapon X. She had brought all twenty-one members. She was told to just bring the elite, but she wanted them all. No mater what she was told, she wanted the place destroyed and all mutants killed. She looked at each one as they jumped down the hole one after another, Lockheed, Husk, Frost, Wolfsbane, Meggan, Penance, Sauron, Sabretooth, Primal, Feral, Caliban, Lizard, Lobo, Puma, Tombstone, Silverclaw, Tigra, Whildchild, Snowbird, Sasquatch and Goblyn. Lady Deathstrike went last with a smile on her face.

---

"Alright men we're here. Below us is the town where the creature was sited. We are to go in and take her and get out," Master Fury told his S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives.

"Deadpool, Solo, Prowler and Deathlock will attack head on and demand the creature. I will lead G.W. Bridge, Masque and Mr. Fantastic from the other side and surprise them. Remember that our main mission is to get the creature and leave. Now, let's move," Master Fury shouted as they all left the jet and headed into the small town in the Colorado Rockies.

---

"Go now. Kill what you have to, but I want good handful brought back to the camps. The main force of you will be to take X-Force head on. The others are to take out the Morlocks that are forced above ground by Weapon X," Trask commanded as a fleet of Sentinels and Nimrods soared out from his hidden base.

---

"Welcome to Revengers Mansion," an older man dressed as a butler greeted them.

"Thank you Jarvis. We have brought guests, please summon everyone to the meeting room," Captain Freedom said.

After the six members of the Revengers had saved Beak and Morph from The Six they had taken them through Doorman to this hidden headquarters. Beak and Morph didn't like being separated from WizKid but they had to trust he was ok. Their job now was to convince Thora to help them. They soon came to a meeting room were they all took a seat around a large meeting table. Along with Captain Freedom, Thora, Rhino, American Eagle, Nova, Doorman and Vindicator sat a few more members, which Cap introduced as Hercules, Crystal, Ant-Man and Ant-Man's daughter Cassie Lang or Ant-Girl. Captain Freedom introduced the two members of the Exiles from another world.

Beak began his tale and told them all about their mission and showed them the Tallut and what was needed of Thora. Beak stressed that the only way to stop all this was to find Kelly and Master Mold and kill them before they merged. The whole room looked at them and sat in silence. They took everything in, even the information they got on what was declared on the news.

"We have no choice, we have to help them. Thora what do you say," Captain Freedom asked.

"I shall go. It is time the hammer came down on Kelly," Thora said as the Tallut glowed in acknowledgment.

"Sir, the alarms are going off. We have incoming attackers," Jarvis stormed into the room.

"Darn it. The Avengers have somehow found us. Okay we split into two teams. I want some of you to escort Thora, Beak and Morph to find Trask's hidden base. That is where Master Mold is. The rest of you will stay here with me to cause a distraction against the attackers so they can get away," Captain Freedom ordered.

"I agree, except for one thing. I am staying behind." Beak said.

"What," Morph asked becoming a giant question mark.

"With Thora leaving, they need my power type or they won't survive. Don't worry, we will catch back up," Beak said.

Soon Thora, Morph, Vindicator, Crystal, Hercules, Doorman and Ant-Girl headed off to find the base. While Captain Freedom, Beak, American Eagle, Rhino, Ant-Man, Nova and Jarvis stayed behind to take on the Avengers.

---

"Master, it was Blade and his crew. He came in and saved them all," Frank reported.

"I don't tolerate failure. I've worked to hard to take reign over this Isle. A plane has crashed not far from here. Selene, my black queen, I would like you to take Frank, Bullseye and a horde of vampires and bring them in. I know you won't let me down," the large man said with a smile baring his fangs.

"Yes my love, we will be victorious," Selene the Black Queen of vampires hissed as she kissed the large man and flew out with her soldiers.

Blade stared back at the ones he had rescued. They had just explained why they had come. With the vampire mind gift he knew their words to be true. The fact that he had known Agatha from the Midnight Sons battle he felt he owed her. He thought it over and then he looked at everyone.

"I don't know. I'm needed here. If the King of vampires is not brought down, the innocents here will not be saved," Blade explained.

"Blade, a plane has come down and sources say that the Black Queen herself with Frank and Bullseye are headed there now," yelled a woman flying into the room.

"Thank you Meteorite," Blade said.

Nocturne glared at the woman who came in.

"Don't worry Nocturne. We are all friends here. Meteorite and her fellow Thunderbolts were brought here after they were exposed. She is all that is left and has proven herself as a friend. Before I decide what to do, we must go to the plane site. With the Black Queen there, they must be important," Blade said.

"I want to go. If Bullseye is there, I have an old score to settle with him," Sable said as her power flared.

After a little debate Sable, Agatha and Fire Lord joined Night Stalker's Moon Knight, Meteorite and Werewolf by Night to go stop the Black Queen from reaching the plane. Blade decided to stay behind to debate the issue of him leaving.

"I really don't know what to do," Blade started to say once the others were long gone.

"How about I decide for you. How about you die," came a booming voice from behind them.

"Wilson Fisk, the Vampire King! How did you get in here," Blade shouted as they all saw the giant man in the doorway.

"Thanks to my spy and fellow vampire Hannibal," Wilson Fisk laughed as Hannibal joined his side. "Hannibal, Johnny, Vamps, attack!"

Fisk the king of vampires commanded as they found tons of vamps coming at them.

---

Scarlet Spider paced in front of his visitors and fellow New Warriors. He looked dashing but scary in his all red costume and red spider facemask. His blue sleeveless vest with a spider symbol on the front did relax the eye a little. He was torn on what to do. Was it really time to take the fight to them? The fact that Stranger had come out of hiding for this meant a big deal, before he could say anything the alarm went off.

"What is going on," BattleStar asked.

"Looks like a big battle going on over in Utopia, Vegas," She-Hulk said at the computer monitor. "Normally we don't interfere in that kind of activity but it looks like our spy cams show a second battle taking place in a near by neighborhood. Due to the battle a shield is gone and our monitors detect that it is mutants in a building that are under the second attack."

"Damn them! The battle must be a cover up for the attack on the hidden mutants. What do we have," Scarlet Spider asked.

"Looks like five Sentinels in the main battle and the three attackers on the mutant home are some kind of sentinel we haven't seen before," She-Hulk said.

"I think this is a job for all of us," Scarlet said looking at the monitor.

"We would be happy to join you," BattleStar said extending his hand.

It was agreed and BattleStar and his team joined the eleven members of the New Warriors in their jet. Soon they were on their way to Utopia, Vegas.

---

Jinx, She-Rock and Dr. Gamma's team appeared outside the town. They stood in shock as they saw the town in flames. Before they could act Master Fury stepped up with two other men.

"Take her quickly. Reed, subdue her. Solo teleport to the jet."

"Reed," She-Rock called out as he blasted a wall of flame around her and then Solo, touching her and teleporting them away. Reed grabbed Fury and flew him to a jet and blasted off as Fury yelled to the others.

"S.H.I.E.L.D., wipe out everyone in this town while we head back to base. I want no people or sign of this town to exist," Fury said as the jet faded and the S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives opened fire on the town people and the heroes.

---

WizKid, Skids and Callisto sat in front of a very old blind woman hooked up to a spider like computer system. Her name was Madam Web, and she had the power to communicate and detect any mutant. Her powers along with Cerebra she co-led the underground city of the Morlocks. They had been talking when she threw a small headpiece at WizKid.

"Hide this with your life kid. This is the main unit for Cerebra. Don't give it to the enemy for no reason," Madam Web screamed.

"What is going on," Callisto demanded.

"We are under attack. Weapon X is here I have alerted every Morlock and sent a call to X-Force. NO! The killing," Madam Web screamed.

"We have to get out of here," Callisto shouted.

"You are not going anywhere," a voice said and they turned around.

Standing in the doorway was Lady Deathstrike, Caliban, Tigra and Penance.

"Give me Cerebra," commanded Lady Deathstrike.

"Never," Madam Web shouted.

"Oh, I wasn't asking. Take them," Lady Deathstrike shouted as the four of them pounced on the four mutants in the room.

---

Wong watched the monitors. While waiting for the signal from Sable, he kept dibs on other current events. He noticed that the Revengers were in battle with the Avengers, and hidden members of the Avengers and Sentinels had just surrounded the second team that had run off. Looks like both teams were in trouble. He then looked at another screen and saw that over in another area of the United States X-Force had just arrived at the scene of an underground massacre. It looked like half the team got underground before the other half was jumped by a hidden Sentinel attack waiting for them.

"Well Luna, I would call the New Warriors but they are engaged in Utopia right now. There has got to be something we can do while we wait for Sable's team to return. Maybe some magical assistance," Wong said to the young girl sitting with him.

"Oh Wong, there is only one thing you are going to do. You are to hand over Luna to me and die," a voice chuckled.

"Kyllian, why," Wong asked just as a magical blast hit him sending him flying backwards.

**Next: Issue #5 – Time Quake – Part Four**


	6. Time Quake Part Four

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #5 – Time Quake – Part Four**

Fire and smoke drifted high into the air. At the base of the inferno was the destroyed and burning remains of a jet. Moments ago a jet carrying six evil criminals called _The Six_ purposely went crashing down into the prison known as Vampire Isle. The President of the United States wanted them dead, and he figured that if they survived the crash the natives on the island would finish them off. They were definitely trapped on the island, but unfortunately for the president The Six still remain alive, for now.

A few feet away from the wreckage a ball of metal rips apart and flies outward. Thanks to their armor and last minute thinking by Graviton, they managed to survive the crash, bruised and banged up but alive. Green Goblin stepped away from Graviton, Electro, Scorpion, Hydro-Man and Mole Man. He looked around and swore.

"I can't believe we were set up. I'll find a way off this rock, and when I do President Kelly is a dead man," Green Goblin cursed.

"Wishful thinking Harry, but it's a known fact that once on this island prison there's no known way out. We're here for good," Electro said.

"Um guys, I think you better look around," Hydro-Man stuttered.

"Why is that?" Green Goblin asked.

"Because I think I know why they call it Vampire Isle," Hydro-Man answered.

All six members looked around and saw that off to their left stood a hoard of vampires. Standing in the front and center of the vampires were three figures. Two male vampires, one dressed in a black costume with no face mask but a bulls-eye on his chest and the other wearing clothes and a trench coat, stood on each side of a very beautiful female vampire with black hair and a skimpy black leather out fit. She took a step towards the Six.

"Welcome to Vampire Isle gentlemen. I am Selene the Vampire Queen. On behalf of the Vampire King you have two choices, agree to join our ranks or die," Selene said.

"Wrong, you have a third choice, join the Night Stalkers and help us rid this island of their evil kind," Moon Knight shouted.

The Six and Selene and her vamps looked up and over to the other side of the burning plane, on a hill stood the white form of Moon Knight. Standing on both sides were the Night Stalkers Meteorite and Werewolf by Night along with their new allies Sable, Agatha Harkness and Fire Lord. Both Moon Knight and Selene demanded they choose.

With a smile Green Goblin walked towards Selene swearing his allegiance to them and demanded the Six to follow. Green Goblin knew most of the members of the Night Stalkers and refused to side with them. His mind and heart seemed to pull to Selene. Mole Man, Scorpion and Hydro-Man followed. Green Goblin cursed as Graviton and Electro declared his craziness and ran to the side of the Night Stalkers.

"So be it. My hoard attack and leave none alive!" Selene screamed as they all flew into battle.

"Night Stalkers, kill each and every vampire, but try and capture the humans alive," Moon Knight shouted as his team met the attack.

"Bullseye is mine. I have an old score to settle," Sable shouted as she flew at a smiling vamp.

"And Frank is mine. I can bare the burden of taking out your old teammate and friend," Meteorite said as she flew at the once member now turned vamp.

Back at the Night Stalker's headquarters, Blade stood shocked as he saw his once friend now turned traitor, Hannibal King fly to the side of the Vampire King, Wilson Fisk, behind the Vampire King stood Johnny Storm and dozens of vampires. Immediately, Nocturne, Black Crow, Blink, Sleepwalker and Spider-Woman ran and stood by Blade's side. Blade raised his voice to the intruders.

"Hannibal, how could you?" Blade asked.

"You should have known, I'm a vampire and my true loyalty lies with my kind. For years I have stood by your side, but I had seen the errors of my ways and realized that the true rulers here are the Vampire King and his legion. While I continued to help you I started secretly relaying information to the King until the time came for me to lead him here." Hannibal smiled as he told his tale of deceit.

"Enough talk! My legion attack," commanded Wilson Fisk.

"You don't stand a chance," Sleepwalker began to shout and then froze silent.

They all looked to see Sleepwalker twitch and then drop to the ground dead, as his throat ripped wide open. Black Crow, with his special sight, leaped and swung his spear. They all heard his spear-end hit something and then a loud bang into the far wall. They all gasped as the form of Johnny appeared.

"Storm, the invisible vampire," Spider-Woman shouted.

"Don't worry, I will handle him and avenge my comrades death!" Black Crow shouted as he ran towards the murderer.

"Team, move quick, take out the vampires, Fisk is mine!" Blade shouted as he spread his wings and went right at Fisk, the Vampire King.

---

Things had happened fast. One minute he was near death the next healed and taking in the sites of the Morlocks secret mutant home called Avalon. One minute WizKid was meeting with Madam Web, the next she gives him a device as four attackers breaks into the room and attacks them. Lady Deathstrike was upon Madam Web as Caliban attacked Skids, Tigra attacks Callisto and Penance pounces at WizKid. WizKid finds it hard to believe that some of these attackers were the good guys back in his reality.

WizKid uses all his abilities to fend off Penance but he is taking a beating. He can barely call forth metal and such before Penance shreds it away. After a few minutes WizKid finds himself lying on the floor, severely cut and beaten near death. He can barely move as Penance readies to come in for the kill. Suddenly a mind piercing pain enters his mind as does every psi-sensitive person on the planet feels the pain. WizKid looks over to see Lady Deathstrike removing Madam Web's head from her body.

"You have a choice kid. Give me the device or you and your friends here die," Lady Deathstrike said as she comanded Penance to stand down but ready.

WizKid, slowly turning his head sees Caliban squeezing Skids neck. The only thing keeping him from snapping it is her force field, which is beginning to weaken. He then turns to see Callisto, sitting on the ground, trying to hold her stomach as blooded oozed all around her hands. Tigra stood ready to finish her fatal slash job. WizKid begins to cry as he finally rests his eyes on Madam Web's lifeless and headless body. He then hears Lady Deathstrike shout, "Forget it, kill, them all!" Just as Penance's claws are an inch from his face, WizKid lets out a very loud scream.

Screams, panic, terror and powers erupt everywhere. The once hidden safe home for the mutants called Avalon is now in chaos. Eighteen members of the secret government death force known as Weapon X are pouncing through the underground city massacring mutants left and right. They will not rest till all are dead, as ordered by the Cabinet. The once beautiful city is now covered in death and blood. It will be a miracle for those who escape, but the night of the Mutant Massacre will haunt them always.

Dagger helps Healer though the tunnels. Friends and family lay wounded and dead everywhere. Too many for them to try and heal. They want to continue to help others but they are running for their lives from the Weapon X member known as Primal. Since they are the two most powerful healers, Primal is determined to take them out. Dagger, trying to help a weak Healer falls to the ground.

"Dagger, I can't go on. Move on ahead and help the others to escape. I am just weighing you down," Healer instructs.

"No, I will not leave you. I don't understand why they are trying to kill us. A lot of the members of Weapon X were once friends and family," Dagger cried.

"It is not their fault. Stryker and his concentration camp have found a way to brainwash and turn them against us. Most of the hounds don't know what they're doing," Healer explains as he then gasps.

Dagger and Healer look up to see Primal standing in front of them. They both know that they have no room to run or the energy to fight. Dagger could escape but she won't leave her friend. Just as Primal pounces he freezes just the same. Two large spikes are protruding from each of his eye sockets. Primal's dead body falls to the ground as a figure with spikes all over his body steps towards them.

"Spike, thank heaven," Dagger said.

"No problem. We need to get going. It's a bloodbath out there. We're dropping like flies and there seems to be no end in sight. From what I hear we can't just go topside because there are Sentinels waiting up there," Spike says as he helps Healer to his feet and they get moving.

They stop as they see a large orange and red puma-like being. Bodies lay all around it as he holds a skinny woman in its hand. He holds his claws ready to gut her. Spike calls forth his powers and steps up. He knows the woman who is about to be killed. She is his good friend Famine. The creature is the monster known as Puma.

"Famine, no," Spike yells, as he is too late to stop Puma from gutting her and tossing her to the side.

"Spike, the famous nephew of Storm or Thora as she is now called. This will be a pleasure to kill you and display your head for her to see," Puma said licking his lips.

Spike called forth his powers and threw dozens of spikes. Puma dodged them with ease and grabbed Spike by the throat. As he hurls Spike with great force, Puma slashes with his other hand. Spike hit the wall and sat there. Normally he would jump right back up, but the giant gash in his side and loss of blood was leaving him very weak. He looked over to see Puma holding both Healer and Dagger in the air with his hands.

"Make a wish Spiky boy, for I am about to rip the bringers of life in two," Puma laughed.

Before Spike could say or try and do anything a giant figure came out of no where, grabbed Puma and snapped his neck. Healer and Dagger dropped to the ground and watched the lifeless body of Puma hit the ground next to them. Dagger ran over to Spike and began to heal him as Healer was helped up by the new figure.

"D-Man, I can't believe you killed," Healer said.

"I know I have sworn a life of peace, but I can't watch any more friends die at the hands of these killers," said D-man, the x-member of the Avengers of long ago. "I came to Avalon and swore to help and protect my fellow friends and that is what I tend to do."

Spike cried, as Dagger could do nothing to heal or save the fallen Famine. Soon D-Man shouted at them. "Over here, one still lives but barely."

Dagger ran over and put her hands on the blood-covered body and called forth her powers with the help of Healer. The body sat up and they saw it was the young form of a pink skinned Morlock.

"Artie, my mute friend, am I glad to see you alive," Healer said as he hugged the young mutant.

The five gathered themselves and headed forward. They came to the end of the tunnel and stepped out of the opening and onto a cliff's edge that overlooked the giant main city of Avalon. Screams were everywhere as Morlocks ran and members of Weapon X hunted them. D-Man and the others gasped as down below they saw Wolfsbane and Lizard each rip apart a mutant. Dagger screamed as they saw the two mutants that were slain were their good friends Tar Baby and Beautiful Dreamer. Lizard and Wolfsbane turned to the scream.

"Wolfsbane, more mutants kill them! There is no escape today ends all lives of the mutants!" Lizard hissed.

Suddenly there was a large explosion. A force grabbed Lizard hurling him through the air and smashing into a wall, speared through the heart by a protruding spike. Through the smoke came a woman with deep blue skin and fiery red hair with flames erupting from her eyes. Other figures hovered in the air behind her.

"Jean," D-Man whispered.

"Yes, Phoenix and X-Force is here. We are all saved!" Spike yelled as members of X-Force went into action to take out Weapon X and save the Morlocks of Avalon.

Half of the members of X-Force made it down into the tunnels of Avalon to save their fellow friends. The other half of X-Force remained on the surface to fend off the Sentinels that had been waiting in a trap. Their mission is to save the Morlocks fleeing from underground and take out the Sentinels. Bishop, co-leader of X-Force, stood upon the battlefield eyeing the Sentinels and five Nimrod units that were human in size but proved smarter and more powerful than the giant robots.

Bishop pointed his right arm at a sentinel. During the Operation Zero Tolerance, he had lost his right hand. Upon the stump was a mechanical disk that amplified his blasts that he generated. The blast hit the giant robot and blew out the side of its face. He then scanned to make sure his half of the team was accounted for as a giant Sentinel boomed the same roll call out.

"Okay team, we need to take these things out and fast. We'll take them on with force, Shaman and Gambit you help protect and get the escaping Morlocks to safety," Bishop ordered.

Ultra-Girl laughed as she tore a head off of a Sentinel. Bishop warned her to be careful, she just laughed saying she was invulnerable. A Nimrod unit approached her and sent a bright flash at her from a diamond emblem in its chest.

"That all you got," Ultra-Girl laughed as the Nimrod unit's arms became adamantium-like spears coated with power dampening-like energy.

Ultra-Girl gasped and they faded into darkness as the arms shot out and both spears pierced her chest killing her. The Nimrod unit tossed her aside and headed towards Bishop. Bishop sent a blast at it and swore as it bounced off the unit. The Nimrod was almost upon him when Overrider jumped on it and slapped his hands on its head and called forth his powers. Suddenly the Nimrod froze and then exploded as Overrider jumped clear.

"My powers can affect the giant robots, but I found I have to actually make contact with the Nimrod unit to find and take control of the computer and make it self-destruct," Overrider explained.

"Thanks, but be careful, we can't get too close to those things. Don't let them hit you with the diamond flash. It allows them to discover and analyze what your powers are," Bishop said as he then knelt beside the dead Ultra-Girl then wiped his tear and ran back to battle.

After a deadly half-hour battle all the Nimrods were taken out but at a cost. Long time friend and comrade Gambit was killed. Also, two Sentinels that had made their escape to the concentration camps captured five members of his team. They would have to go after the five captured members, Bolt, Wonder Man, Strong Guy, Rictor and Captain Britain later. First they had to lie to rest and mourn Gambit and Ultra-Girl and then tend to the battle underground. As the others headed out, Iron-Girl, a robotic female looking version of Iron-Man, knelt down and shed her first tear in ages over the grave of Gambit.

"Take care sugah," Iron-Girl said as she jumped up and flew after the others.

---

President Kelly sat in his office watching the monitor screens. He felt nervous because everything was coming to a head. He had just gotten word that X-Force had won the above ground battle but two had died and five were being taken to the Camps. There has been no word on the Mutant Massacre. Lady Deathstrike and Weapon X were still engaged underground. He would have to check more into that later.

Kelly had just gotten a call from Trask, via the secret underground base. The next stage of Master Mold was ready and Fury and his S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives had just arrived with She-Rock. He informed them to hold tight till he got there. He had to have a conference call with Stryker and Grynch first. Stryker had to prepare for the new arrivals and set up the next phase of the camps. Also Grynch would be taking the captured Revengers and staging a national television broadcast of their execution. Once all was done then he would be ruler of the country predominately, whether the people of America wanted him or not.

There was one loose end though. He had a strong Cabinet, except for Osborne. He couldn't be trusted or relied upon. Once his plans went into effect he wouldn't need him, but couldn't risk him being a loose cannon. Kelly wouldn't have to hope for long, if all went well the demise of Treasurer Norman Osborne would be happening soon. Kelly laughed as he set up his conference call and got ready to then head to the secret hidden Sentinel base.

---

The small peaceful Colorado Rockies town laid in smoke and ruin. Vickie looked around but knew that it wasn't anything they couldn't rebuild. Fury and his men had taken She-Rock and escaped. They could have saved her if it weren't for the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent's left behind to lay waste to them and their town. The remaining town's folk were cleaning up and disposing of bodies. The S.H.I.E.L.D. corpse would be thrown into the rivers while the town's folk's dead would have a proper burial. She recapped the ending battle statistics.

A lot of the S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers were taken out. Even though Dr. Gamma frowned upon it, they had all come from a kill or be killed life. Special S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Deadpool, Prowler and Masque had been killed by Jinx and Sam. Dr. Gamma and the Secret Defenders had injured and helped drive out the other members. She looked over and saw the visitors getting ready to leave. She also saw Jinx suiting up.

"Jinx, what are you doing?" Vickie asked.

"She-Rock was one of my best friends. I have to go help her. So I'm going with them," Jinx protested.

"If we could we'd stay to help out here but we really need to find She-Rock and rescue her," Dr. Gamma said as he walked up with Sam and the others.

"I know. I would go too but I must stay here to run the town and use my powers to make it undetectable. Jinx, you can't go," Vickie said.

"I know you are like a mother to me, but I have to go, to save her. Plus, with my magic, I am the only one who can help find the secret base they are taking her to," Jinx said as he hugged Vickie.

"Don't worry sweetie. I'll be there to make sure he comes back to you. Plus I have a score to settle with G.W. Bridge," Sam Buchanan said as he and Jinx made their sad good-byes.

---

The secret home of the Revengers lay in ruins from the Sentinel attack. Captain Freedom, Beak, American Eagle, Rhino, Ant-Man, and Nova stood ready to take on the Sentinels and the Avengers while the others made their break for the secret base. Captain Freedom noticed that the Sentinels were led by USAgent and four other Avengers: Hulk, Black Widow, Warbird and Hawk-Eye. One of the main reasons Captain Freedom hated battling the Avengers is because they had once been friends.

"Surrender now Steve or we'll be forced to bring you in the hard way," USAgent shouted.

"You know this is wrong. You guys are fighting for the wrong side. Kelly and his Cabinet are destroying America. The mutants are not our enemies, just think of Wanda and the others that were once your friends," Captain Freedom shouted back.

"Whatever Steve, you weren't the one that lost loved ones like Black Widow and me. Think about what the mutants and their Phalanx War cost us," Hawk-Eye shouted tapping his right eye that was covered with a glowing eyepiece.

Steve noticed Hawk-Eye now wore a battle suit minus the helmet. Behind him was the Hulk, who had a device around his head, which allowed them to control him. Black Widow and Warbird wore similar battle suites. USAgent was the same as always. Captain Freedom instructed the Revengers to take down but not kill their former friends. The battle engaged with force.

Hawk-Eye pointed his right arm and a mechanic bow appeared. He then pointed his left arm and an arrow appeared. Using his eyepiece he took aim, touched the arrow to the bow and fired it at Captain Freedom. Cap held up his shield to deflect the arrow but Hawk-Eye flicked his wrist and the arrow split in four. Each piece went around the shield expanded and drove into each arm and leg pinning Captain Freedom to the wall. Clint laughed as USAgent reminded them to take the prisoners alive.

At that moment Hulk yells, "Hulk smash!" and slaps his hands together crushing Ant-man on a flying ant. "Oops, Hulk sorry," He says as he opens his hands and the crushed lifeless body of Scott Lang falls to the ground.

"No!" Screams Rhino as he goes back into his criminal mindset and races at Warbird, using his horn to tear and gut her. As the dying Warbird drops to the ground both sides go into shock. With the Revengers spirits dampening and the anger of the Avengers, Cap and his team are soon captured and placed into the containment carrier. The bodies of Ant-Man and Warbird are tossed aside as they head off to the Revengers execution.

On the way they picked up Guardian, Absorbing Man, War Machine and Juggernaut who report that the other Revengers defeated them and got away, but Black Panther and Red Queen followed in pursuit. USAgent shook his head and called Vice President Grynch who told them to leave the others and bring who they had. There would just have to be two execution broadcasts, but it was okay because they had Cap.

---

"Now remember, we put up a small fight and then they capture us to let us go later," Blue Goblin reminded his team of Six, Whirlwind, King Cobra, Molten Man, Rocket Racer and Typhoid Mary.

The six Sentinels, who came to attack Utopia, Nevada as a plan for the Cabinet, stood over the New Six. Suddenly a code came in from President Kelly and Trask and downloaded into the Sentinels with new instructions. One of the Sentinels raised its arms and shot off a powerful plasma-acid blast. It hits Whirlwind killing him instantly.

"What! Your not suppose to kill, you are suppose to capture us," Blue Goblin yelled.

New operative. As per Treasurer Osborne, the New Six are to be terminated just like the old Six were, the Sentinel responded.

"We have been set up folks. I can't believe my grandfather did this to my father and me. New plan, Six take out the Sentinels," Blue Goblin yelled.

Blue Goblin knew they wouldn't last long against six Sentinels and was about to sigh when he looked up and saw a fleet of warriors flying in. They split in two and half were flying towards the house were the Nimrods were going after the mutants and the other half were coming his way to help them. He instructed the New Six to side with the heroes against the Sentinels as Battle Star, Black Bolt, Vibraxas, Scarlet Spider, She-Hulk, Dark Hawk, G-Force, Arachne and Jolt joined the battle.

The battle waged against the Sentinels. As Typhoid Mary was about to slice into one of the giant robots, another came up from behind and stepped on her crushing her instantly. G-Force came up behind it and surrounded it with his cloud form. Then he began to make particles of him become solid and invoke his energizer power, slow but sure the Sentinel began to disintegrate within the cloud of smoke. Jolt than released his powers and finished off the rest of the robot.

Scarlet Spider noticed that the Sentinels were mainly focused on killing the people they had arrived to save. It made it easier on his team but harder to keep the New Six alive. At that moment he heard an explosion and saw Rocket Racer fly backwards. Scarlet Spider got to his side. He was alive but knocked out. Two Sentinels came near them but were then blown apart by the sonic voice of Black Bolt. Before anyone could recover a Sentinel blasted Black Bolt knocking him out cold.

Darkhawk flew up to the Sentinel, but before he could fire a power blast a second Sentinel came up from behind and killed him instantly with a plasma-acid blast. She-Hulk screamed and with her right cybernetic arm grabbed the leg and tossed the Sentinel. In a matter of moments the New Warriors had finished off the Sentinels. When Scarlet Spider turned he noticed that the surviving four members of the New Six were gone. As they mourned Darkhawk they headed over to where the other team was saving the mutants.

As they approached they were met my Silver Stranger and a man with a goatee and cybernetic leg and hand. The rest of the team and the mutants were sitting back behind. Silver Stranger introduced the man as Forge, the leader and caretaker of the New Mutants. They have been on the run for ages from the Sentinels. Silver Stranger told them that they managed to take out two of the Nimrods but one got away with five prisoners and that four had lost their lives.

Dr. Cecelia Reyes, (Forge's partner and co-leader of the New Mutants) Sunspot, Magma, Claudette St. Croix and Aegis were taken prisoner to the Camps. Speedball, Diamondback, Rage and a New Mutant named Lifter weren't so lucky. The Nimrods had proved to be stronger and smarter than the Sentinels are. The team took Forge and his remaining New Mutants, Chamber, Jubilee, Nichole St. Croix and the grieving Shadowcat (for Lifter was her boyfriend) back to their base to mourn, bury their friends and decide what to do next.

---

Wong stood up and ran out after Kyllian and Luna. Standing on a flying disk was Kyllian and the knocked out Luna. Kyllian was about to send a blast at Wong when a muscular man in a full green body suit with only brown hair showing with tentacles waving from his back went after Kyllian. Kyllian dodged and then sped away.

"We are OctaSym, we save innocent girl," the creature said.

"Oh you have to help me save her. She is special and considered the last and only future hope for the remaining Inhumans," Wong cried.

"Well then we have something in common. I say we form a partnership," a voice said from the shadows.

Wong and OctaSym turned as a female in green armor, silver boots and gloves, green hooded cape and a skull and crossbones on her chest stepped before them.

**Next: Issue #6 – Time Quake – Part Five**


	7. Time Quake Part Five

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #6 – Time Quake – Part Five**

In what seemed like a blink of an eye the Black Queen took Green Goblin, Scorpion, Hydro-Man and Mole Man and began converting them into vampires while her minions distracted and took on the heroes. Soon four more joined the ranks of the vampires and then attacked the heroes. The Black Queen stood tall and statuesque.

"Kill them my minions. I want to feast upon all their severed heads." Black Queen shouted with joy and conviction.

Green Goblin flew at Agatha, hunger in his eyes. As a vampire he no longer needed his glider to fly. Agatha through up a spell but he dodged it and used his nails to rip open her chest. Agatha dropped to one knee clutching her chest. She raised out her hand and invoked a spell as Goblin made another pass. A huge explosion erupted sending the Goblin flying miles off into the distance.

Agatha began to cast a spell of healing as she saw Electro battling Scorpion and Graviton battling Mole Man. It didn't take long for Electro to fry his opponent into dust as Graviton used gravity to send dozens of wooden stakes into Mole Man turning him into dust. Agatha then heard a scream. She looked over to see Fire Lord taking on Hydro-Man.

Hydro-Man's powers, added to his new supernatural vampire abilities had Fire Lord engulfed in water and drowning. While drowning Hydro-man began to make his fangs go solid. Agatha quickly released a spell and then passed out. The magic spell caused a reaction between the two and a loud bang went off. Hydro-Man turned to steam and vanished while Fire Lord fell to the ground, hair no longer on fire. He was safe, but at what cost?

Werewolf battled the unknown vamps while Meteorite took on Frank Drake. Even though Drake used to be a fellow teammate, he had been turned and was now clearly the enemy. She felt no love lost and had no problems in trying to bring him down. He was quick but she would have to be quicker. The battle waged with no end in sight.

"Well, you may have a new look but I can recognize that smell anywhere E." Bulls-Eye smiled baring his fangs.

"The names Sable now and we have an old score to settle," Sable said.

"Don't worry, I will kill you as painfully as I did your old lover Dare Devil." Bulls-Eye smiled again as he pulled out a red bully club attached to a chain around his neck.

"No!" Sable screamed as her wristbands flared with truth behind the vampire's words.

Sable flipped and kicked as well as Bulls-Eye. The battle was fierce as Sable attacked with golden Sais. Bulls-Eye kicked her back and pinned her to the ground. He commented on tasting her and then killing her like her ex-lover as he dangled the red bully club. Suddenly Sable yelled out and yellow energy came out of her bands and grabbed Bulls-Eye, lifting him up in the air. The yellow energy from her bands became an axe and severed Bulls-Eye's head turning him into dust.

"Rot in hell," Sable said as she picked up the red bully club from the dust and attached it to her leg.

Sable looked over and saw the heated battle between Moon Knight and Black Queen. His costume was torn and he was bleeding. She then grabbed him around the throat lifting him up with one hand.

"Looks like this is the end for you/" Black Queen laughed.

"Wrong," Moon Knight said as the moon on his chest opened up and a wooden stake shot out piercing her heart.

Black Queen's scream could be heard for miles as she turned to dust. With the death of the Queen all the vamps stopped fighting and followed Frank Drake as they all made a run for it. The heroes picked each other up and headed back to the Night Stalker's base.

They didn't have much time to prepare with the killing of Sleepwalker, the betrayal of Hannibal and the attack by the KingPin himself. Nocturne and Blink did what they could to fend off the vamps while Black Crow took on Johnny Storm, Spider-Woman fought Hannibal King and Blade went after the KingPin. Battle raged on for what seemed like hours. The battle was about to turn in a new direction.

Black Crow using his powers could sense Johnny even though he was invisible. Black crow called on the power of his ancestors and created a spear, plunging it into Johnny's chest. Johnny became visible lying on the ground pinned by a spear in his chest.

"Stupid bird. You missed my heart," Johnny laughed.

"No I didn't. I was aiming for your soul not your heart," Black Crow laughed.

"I don't have a soul fool."

"You do now," Black Crow said as he invoked the last chant of the spell.

Johnny screamed as he pulled the spear from his chest and felt the pain of now having a soul again. With a flash Johnny vanished from sight and was gone.

Spider-Woman was down with Hannibal above her. Nocturne flew up and blasted him in the eyes with a holographic light. Spider-Woman took the opportunity and wrapped a psi-web around a wooden stake and held it up. He was an old friend, could she kill him, even now? Before she could decide Blink grabbed the stake and plunged it into Hannibal's heart. Spider-Woman sobbed a little as Hannibal King became a pile of dust.

"You okay Julia?" Blink asked.

"I am fine," Spider-Woman said as she rubbed the side of her neck.

Blade floated above KingPin with wings spread wide and holding swords in each arm. In a delicate dance sequence the two fought, punches for punch, dodge for dodge. Combined with his mutant wings and Day Walker abilities, Blade proved to be fast. Fuelled with his anger and desire to rid this world of the KingPin of Vampire Isle he dove in with both blades. KingPin moved his hands up to block the blades. At that moment, Blade used his wings to fold over, grab a couple wooden stakes and fling them deep into KingPin's chest. As Wilson Fisk turned to dust Blade swung his blades and removed the head for good measure.

Soon both teams recapped what had happened.

"Now that the King and Queen are dead it shouldn't' be too hard to take out the rest of the vampires and reclaim the Isle," Moon Knight said.

"Yes, and I thank you all for your help," Blade said to the band of heroes that had appeared on the Isle asking for his help.

"Will you come with us?" Blink asked.

"Don't worry Blade, I will stay behind and lead the Night Stalkers," Moon Knight proclaimed.

"Yes, and you will do the team proud. Someday I'll return to free you all from this Isle," Blade said.

"Well if all goes as plan, there won't be this evil Isle to have to come back to," Nocturne added in.

It was decided, Graviton & Electro would stay behind and join the Night Stalkers Moon Knight, Werewolf, Spider-Woman and Meteorite. Using the method of return Blade, along with Blink, Nocturne, Sable, Agatha, Fire Lord & Black Crow disappeared in a flash of light. Suddenly they appeared on a field of grass.

"This isn't the sanctuary of Silver Stranger," Blink said.

"Something must have happened that didn't allow Wong to guide us back," Agatha said.

"What?" Black Crow whirled around.

"What is it?" Nocturne asked.

"Oh nothing. Must have been the wind. I thought I saw something shimmer and fade away. It was nothing," Black Crow said as he thought he had sensed a newborn soul.

"Wait, is that Silver Stranger?" yelled Agatha.

They all looked as a man waved his hand and they were all surrounded by a cosmic light show. When the light faded they found themselves in a base of some kind surrounded by strange and familiar faces. Blink recognized Scarlet Spider standing next to Silver Stranger.

"Welcome to New Warriors head quarters," Scarlet Spider said.

After about a half-hour they all caught everyone up to speed. It was clear, they would all have to work together to top the evil President Kelly and his Cabinet.

"Okay this is what we are looking at. We need to get to the secret base to stop the next phase and stop the 13th ripple. We also need to send a team to stop the execution of the Revengers. Lastly, we need a team to break into the concentration camps of New Canada, to shut it down, save our fellow friends and to rescue X-man and get him to the Secret Base. According to the Tallut, combined with my powers and Sables, we know that all twelve Outsiders are going to end up at the secret base," Silver Stranger said.

"Since all current Outsiders must be at the Secret Base and can't risk losing any of them, I will lead Sable, Blade, Silver Stranger and Scarlet Spider to the secret base. Black Cat, G-Force and Vibraxas will join us for backup," Nocturne said.

"Yes, that is the most important. Blink and I will lead the raid into New Canada to free X-Man and get him to the Secret Base. Fire Lord, Black Crow, Gorgon, Agatha and Black Bolt (not being mutants) and Forge will join us for the raid. You six will provide cover, free other prisoners and help bring down the camp while we get in and out with X-Man. No matter what happens, those who have agreed to go know that number one priority is to get X-Man out and to the base," Battle Star said as the others nodded.

"I'll be leading the rest of you as we head out to save my man and fellow Revengers from death," She-Hulk said as she looked at her team of Chamber, Jubilee, Shadowcat, Nichole St. Croix, Arachne, Falcon and Jolt.

With that everyone said his or her good-byes and good lucks and head out.

Vice President Grynch had just got off the phone with President Kelly. Kelly was heading to the Secret Base to finalize the final plan. Once they were all done, the Cabinet would rule the world whether anyone liked it or not. The first step would be the execution of captain Freedom and his Revengers. With them gone all would be in fear and there wold be no one to stand up to them anymore. His fear would be that Cap would find out about the mind control and free the Avengers from his control.

Grynch stepped out onto the stage. Thousands of people, media and new camera stood awaiting this grand event: The Execution of Captain Freedom and his Revengers. At noon the curtain would be drawn and the execution would begin. Grynch stepped behind the curtain and looked up and the six figures tied and bound powerless on holding platforms. Soon Captain Freedom, American Eagle, Rhino, Nova, Jarvis and the new being calling himself Beak would be dead. He looked over at both sides of the stage where his guards stood. USAgent, Hulk, Black Widow, Guardian, Hawkeye, Absorbing Man, War-Machine and Juggernaut stood ready.

Deep in the Secret Base, in a division known as SHIELD Headquarters, a figure entered the SHIELD Lab. The man stepped and looked at two figures being held unconscious in tubes of liquid. One was a giant rock like woman and the other was a teenaged girl. The man then stepped over to a man at a computer console.

"I see our missions were a success Reed or should I know call you Mister Fantastic?" The man laughed.

"Very funny Fury. You know this isn't easy for me knowing that one of the victims has an old history with me," Reed Richards said.

"I am glad we were able to capture this She-Rock and that agent Kyllian was able to infiltrate and capture the Inhuman Luna for me," Master Fury said.

"Yes, I'll run my tests on Sue, but Luna will be ready for when President Kelly is ready for her," Reed said.

"Good, I would not want to upset the President," Fury said as he walked out of the room.

"Mister President, glad to see you," Trask said.

"Yes, now we must get things going. I want you to get Master Mold online and hooked up. Then bring in the Inhuman girl and get her hooked up. In a few hours the next phase of my plan will be set." Kelly laughed as Trask took charge in the Division of the Secret base where the Sentinels were created and controlled.

Up in New Canada, home of the largest mutant concentration camp in the world Striker stood in his office with a smile. The president was ready for the next phase of planning so he had to start his next phase. All this time he had been terminating, testing and experimenting on mutants. He loved his Weapon X hounds but what he was going to create would far pass them or Trask's Sentinels or Nimrods. Striker looked over at his monitor as the ten new captives were brought in. At least the raids on the Morlocks and in Nevada had got him some more to play with.

"Computer, place the following: Sunspot, Wonder Man, Bolt & Magma in the fields. Strong Guy, Rictor, & Captain Britain can be placed in the holding cells for testing. Aegis, Dr. Reyes and Claudette St. Croix can be sent to the Red Room, to be prepared for termination," Trask said as he sat back and smiled.

Treasurer Norman Osborne sat in his office drinking a scotch. He was the richest man in the world. Yes he had to sacrifice his son and grand son, but he was a valued member of the Cabinet. Once the Cabinet took over the world he would be one of the most richest and powerful man in the world. His connections and brains could easily eliminate Kelly and the others if need be. Osborne smiled as he sipped back his scotch.

"Hello, Grandfather. Surprised to see me? We were informed you set us up to die as you did my father and his team of SIX," a voice came from behind Norman.

Norman spun around and saw his grandson dressed up as Blue Goblin and three of his surviving members Molten Man, Rocket Racer and King Cobra. He jumped up and backed away.

"Normie, what are you talking about?" Norman stuttered as he realized that Kelly had back stabbed him first.

"Sorry granddad, your time is up. I am tired of the evil legacy you bring," Blue Goblin said.

"We can talk about this," Norman blubbered.

In that instant Norman reached under his desk and came up wearing a pair or high tech gloves. He then fired off a few blasts. One hit Molten Man and blew him backwards. When they all looked back Norman was wearing his very own goblin costume.

"I never wanted this to happen like this but goodbye" Norman said as he laughed.

King Cobra jumped at the Norman Goblin and they went crashing through the office window. Rocket Racer went to check on Molten Man while Blue Goblin ran to the window to see what was happening. On the narrow ledge was Goblin standing over a knocked out King Cobra.

"Not this time," Blue shouted as he fired a pumpkin bomb blowing his Grandfather off the ledge and plummeting to the streets below. He then tossed another pumpkin and it landed on top of the Goblin causing it to burst into flames and disintegrating.

"There is no way the great Norman can return form that death," Blue Goblin said as he helped King Cobra up and back into the office.

The team of four headed out of the office. None smiling but one. For some reason King Cobra had a huge smile underneath his mask.

Just as WizKid thought all was gone and lost, something amazing happened. His powers manifested in a new level. He was suddenly completely surrounded in a body of armor. The armor shifted, shaped and powered to his every thought. He knocked Lady Deathstrike to the side and then his armor produced three cannons and fired some kind of energy. The energy hit and blew Tigra, Caliban and Penance to pieces. WizKid then noticed two more things. Cerebra had fused into his new armor and Lady Deathstrike had taken off.

He looked over and saw that Skids was okay but Callisto was wounded. Suddenly pieces of his armor broke off and formed around Callisto. He had somehow created a body armor for Callisto to keep her alive and active. WizKid and his two friends made their way out of the tunnels and above ground. They stopped dead in their tracks when Lady Deathstrike was standing there with Feral and what WizKid recognized as an Outsider Frost. WizKid was confused. The white furred looking man beast was their enemy? What was he to do now?

X-Force had arrived. All of Weapon X and the Morlocks of Haven looked up to see the fiery red head and blue-skinned form of Phoenix. She then barked orders.

"X-Force engage Weapon X and protect our friends and family. Scarlet Witch, Psyche and Pathway will assist me in finding a solution to the Weapon X mind control before any more needless deaths arise," Phoenix shouted as she and her three helpers floated far up in the air and began a Psi display of power.

"About time X-Force got here," D-Man said.

"Yeah, I love seeing them in action. Some day I want to become a member of X-Force. Then join the ranks of the XFE," Spike dreamed.

"?" Artie projected.

"The XFE is the X-Force Elite. They are Phoenix's inner circle. They do the major missions and battles and agree to surrender to the Phoenix force mutate to a higher level. There is always only seven excluding Phoenix. I am sorry, but I am happy with who I am and can still fight the good fight," Dagger said.

"That's good cause I am in the mood for one," a female voice screeched.

"Husk! Spike guard the others I'll handle her," D-Man said.

"Like you could stop me," Husk said shedding her skin and becoming a hard skinned razor clawed creature.

Just as Husk leapt at them a shadow appeared in front of her and picked her up and tossed her clear across the room. The shadow began to shrink and before it was gone a figure stepped out of it. It was a black woman with red streaks in her short hair, fiery red eyes when her powers where in effect and a red "X" over her right eye. It was Silhouette, a member of not only X-Force, but also a part of the XFE.

"Hey Sil," Spike waved.

That is Silhouette?" Dagger asked.

"Yes, ever since she became one of the XFE she no longer needs braces and crutches to walk," D-man said.

As the battle raged on mutants and heroes flew every where as Weapon X, Morlocks, Mutants and X-Force members collided. Weapon X members Lob and Sabretooth were on a fast and deadly hunt. In a mater of moments they had killed many Morlocks and helpless mutants. Sabretooth had now cornered Gypsy Moth, Snowfall and Ape. He smiled, in one minute he knew he would have all three shredded. He suddenly stopped, as did everyone other being in the hidden city. Something major began to happen.

"NO!" Screamed Phoenix as she and every member of the XFE clutched their heads.

"What happened?" Spike asked Silhouette.

"Gambit, one of the XFE was just killed," She answered holding her head in pain eyes flaring with fire.

Suddenly at that moment Phoenix, Scarlet Witch, Psyche and Pathway released their powers in unison and a blast of Psi power hit every member of Weapon X causing them all to drop in pain. In their minds and everyone else's minds felt the bond being cut. Even the Psi's at Strikers camps all knew what just happened. The Hounds have been eliminated and set free. The hounds of Weapon X were no longer under mind control. Phoenix and her three helpers had saved the day and ended this battle.

"Great we are all saved," Ape stuttered looking at the fallen Sabretooth.

"Not really," Sabretooth said as he jumped up and ripped Gypsy Moth to shreds.

"What? You can't do this. It was mind control. You were once a famous X-man and even then when you became one of the Extreme X-Men you only killed when you had no choice," Ape stuttered.

"Well we are all free now, but even with most now being able to be good, some of us CHOOSE to be bad," Sabretooth laughed as he gutted Ape and turned to Snowfall.

"Good, because I never really did like you. Now I can continue to kick your butt," a voice yelled as a power blast hit Sabretooth sending him flying through a tunnel wall and out of site.

"Thanks Cannonball," Snowfall gasped.

"No problem," the young man with blond hair, almost orange glowing skin, fiery red eyes and a red "X" across his right eye.

Bishop, Iron-Girl, Shaman and Overrider entered the tunnels as the Morlocks and X-Force started cleaning the city up. Psyche and Scarlet Witch helped welcome Lockheed, Husk, Wolfsbane, Meggan, Silverclaw, Snowbird, Sasquatch, & Goblyn back to the fold and forever away from Weapon X. Sabretooth, Sauron, Lobo, Tombstone and Wild Child choose their own side and escaped. Bishop met with Phoenix and her XSE.

"I'm sad to have lost one such as Gambit. We have a spot open now Bishop, please would you join my XFE?" Phoenix asked.

"Jean, I know how much you want me to join but becoming a part of your elite circle is not for me. I want to fight the fight but do it as my own person. I know for some mystic, cosmic reason seven is always needed. Why not one of the other members of X-Force?" Bishop asked.

"No, there is only one that truly is fit but I won't do it. I can accept her as a member of X-Force but never as one of my inner circle. After she murdered my husband I can never let her that close to me," Jean said with a tear forming.

"She didn't murder Logan intently. It was an accident and she has controlled her powers and has proven herself many times over," Bishop explained.

"No. We have other matters to discuss for now. I am strong enough to have six, the seventh can be chosen later. We have to rescue our comrades from New Canada. I think it is time to take that place down. Also, before Madame Web died she sent me a small amount of information. Cerebra is safe in the hands of some kid named WizKid. Only thing is he has disappeared and headed off somewhere and we need to get it back. Only other image I got is he is headed to the Sentinel layer. The secret base of Trask and Kelly," Jean said.

"We'll leave D-man and Scarlet Witch to lead the recovery and safety of the Morlock City. Everyone else who is able will be drafted as honorary X-Force members," Jean Finished.

Spike joined the others that were called into the meeting room. He was very excited about this draft to war. This would give him the chance to prove himself and maybe become a member of X-Force. From there, you never know, XFE. Phoenix spoke to all and then teams were decided. Scarlet Witch, D-Man, Masque, Healer, Gateway and Artie would stay behind with all the other mutants and Morlocks.

Phoenix was leading the assault on the camps. Joining her would be her now six-member XFE team: Psyche, Northstar, Silhouette, Cannonball, Maverick and Shatterstar. She would also be taking with her Sasquatch, Meggan, Silverclaw, Wolfsbane, (those four would give valuable insight to breaking in) Snowfall, Pathway, Justice and Spike. After what they did with the Mutant Massacre it was time to shut the camps down and put an end to Striker once and for all.

Bishop would lead the assault team on the Secret Base. Their mission was to find this WizKid and get Cerebra back safe. Also, while they were there and now had the means of finding the hidden Sentinel base, destroy the base and put an end to Trask and his army of robots once and for all. Joining Bishop would be Iron Girl, Shaman, Overrider, Cloak, Dagger, Lila Cheney, Lockheed, Goblyn, Mr. Immortal, Big Birtha, Longshot, Erg, Snowbird and Husk. The teams were set and headed out.

WizKid and his new armor were doing a good job of holding Feral and Frost back. His armor's energy power was beginning to weaken. Suddenly Frost hit him with massive strength and he flew back on top of Skids and the injured Callisto. Before Frost and Feral could attack they grabbed their heads and dropped to the ground. After a few minutes they stood back up.

"Kill them!" Lady Deathstrike shouted.

"No," Both of them said.

"What!" Lady D shouted.

"The control is gone some how. I can think freely. I refuse to do any more evil," Feral said.

"Well that may be true but some of us still chose to be evil," Lady D shouted as she whipped out her hands and claws gutting the life out of Feral.

"Now do as I command, Frost. Finish them or I will," Lady D commanded as Frost turned to face her.

"NO!" Frost shouted.

Frost's shout went from sounding like shouting "NO" to a loud roar to a very loud powerful sonic sound blast. The sonic sound blasts hit Lady Deathstrike with so much power and force it sent her flying back out of sight by miles. Frost dropped to one knee.

"Sorry, it has been so long since I have done that I let it out too strong. Now it will be awhile before I can do that again," Frost whispered.

In a matter of moments WizKid showed Frost the Tallut and that they had to get to the Secret Base. Remembering what all had been done to him and being forced to be evil he decided to join WizKid. If doing this meant his parents and godmother would be alive again he would do it. Without a thought and wanting paybacks Skids and Callisto, who was now reliant on WizKid's power, decided to go along and protect him. Soon the four were off and headed to the Secret Base.

Thora, Morph, Vindicator, Crystal, Hercules, Doorman, and Ant-Girl were at the boarder of Florida hiding in a forest of trees. The Secret Base was somewhere in Florida and they were almost there.

"Now be careful. Once we cross the border, security will be thick and tight," Vindicator said.

"You won't be going anywhere. If you refuse to come back with us, we will engage you in battle. We may not be able to take you all with force, but for sure we can hold you off long enough to alert security. Then you will all be surrounded and taken down by Sentinels and SHIELD in no time," Panther laughed.

Suddenly a blast hit Panther dead in the chest knocking him out cold. Red Queen turned as four black-green tentacles grabbed her and held her bound so she couldn't move or speak. The Revengers all looked over and saw three figures. One looked like a female Dr. Doom with a skull and crossbones on her chest holding a smoking gun. The second, was a short fat man in a black-green costume of some kind that covered his whole body minus the very top were brown hair could be seen. The tentacles holding Red Queen actually looked like they were coming out of or a part of the costume. The third was a short bald Chinese man.

"We seem to be on the same mission here. Maybe we can help each other out?" the female Doom look alike said.

"Who are they?" Ant-Girl asked.

"It's Punisher and OctaSym. I know them from the Tallut. The bald guy I don't know," Morph proclaimed.

"That's Wong!" Crystal screamed, "If you're with them, then who is watching my girl. Where is LUNA!"

**Next: Issue #7 – Time Quake – Part Six**


	8. Time Quake Part Six

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #7 – Time Quake – Part Six**

"**The Conclusion"**

_**The Secret Base – Two Miles North Of Base**_

"There it is," Sam said pointing at a castle down below after Lockjaw had teleported them here.

"The base is underneath the castle. That is where we need to go," Dr. Gamma told them all as he looked at his Tallut.

"Wait, look! Something is approaching," Lyja shouted before Lockjaw could teleport them again.

Coming in low was a very small hover ship carrying four people. Sam shouted an order and Jinx caused the ship to freeze in its place. Rintrah was about to cast a spell too when Dr. Gamma got a loser look at the people in the ship and shouted for everyone to stop.

"Whiz, is that you?" Dr Gamma shouted.

"Mr. Banner? Am I glad to see you, I found one of the Outsiders," WizKid shouted back.

Soon both teams compared stories and filled each other in on what had happened to them and what they were up to. They decided to team up since their goals were the same to find She-Rock and put an end to the secret sentinel base. In a moment they all vanished courtesy of Lockjaw and found themselves deep below within the secret base.

"Now where?" Skids asked.

"You're going nowhere," a man shouted behind them.

They all looked to see that G.W. Bridge, Deathlock, Solo and a whole force of SHIELD Agents pointing their guns at them. Sam smiled and whipped his gun around. "Time for payback."

_**The Secret Base – The Front Gates**_

"Any idea how to get in?" Ant-Girl asked.

"We think we should just attack," OctaSym said as his tentacles waved holding Red Queen immobile.

"No, we don't want to alert the guards. It is imperative that we find President Kelly and this Master Mold and kill both of them," Punisher swore.

Both teams had told their tales before coming to the secret base. Punisher had realized that it was her fault that this was happening. She was the one that had killed the wrong Kelly and started the events for the thirteenth ripple to occur. She was determined to lead Thora, OctaSym and Red Queen, whether she wanted to or not, to the final destination. The others were along to help them and to help Crystal get her daughter back.

"What is that?" Vindicator shouted as loud sirens began to sound.

"That would be them," Blank Panther said from the ground where Hercules had put him down as they saw hundreds of Sentinels and Nimrods flying out of the Castle Grounds, "Even though you sealed me in ice, Crystal, I was still able to wiggle my finger to send an alert. You see, the Avengers are connected to SHIELD and SHIELD defends this place."

"We can't survive against all them. There is no way we can get past and get in there," Doorman began to panic.

"We won't have to, look!" Wong shouted.

They all turned to see powerful blasts and powers hitting the Sentinels and Nimrods. To their surprise a huge group of mutants were being lead to battle by Bishop. They counted about fifteen of them. It appeared that X-Force had arrived to cause the diversion they needed. They were about to slip off when Morph began changing shape and shouting that one of the members appeared to be the Outsider known as Iron-Girl. Punisher swore. They couldn't leave just yet.

**_The Secret Base – Underground Passage_**

"According to the Tallut and Silver Stranger's powers, just ahead will be an open room. From there we will take a sewer tunnel to the fight and that will lead us to a ladder that will take us up and right into the area that Master Mold is being held. There we will be sure to find Kelly also," Nocturne said to her comrades as hey entered the large underground room.

"What is that shaking?" Scarlet Spider asked.

"What shaking? I don't feel anything," Black Cat asked.

"Maybe a large battle above ground?" G-Force said.

"No, that's not it. Even though I sense a great battle the shaking is not from that. The reason that Black Cat and G-Force don't feel anything is because they are not an Outsider like the rest of us. I can sense it. The thirteenth ripple is getting closer to forming and what we are feeling is the beginning of a huge time quake," Silver Stranger said.

"Then we better hurry. We don't have much time. According to my Tallut, all Outsiders are found and here except the one called X-Man," Nocturne said.

"Let's hope your friends find him and get him here soon," Sable said.

"You've run out of hope I'm afraid," a voice shouted from the room they had just entered.

"Kyllian? You have betrayed your master for the last time," Silver Stranger said as his powers flared.

"Oh, you stopped being my master the day you killed Doctor Strange and absorbed his powers to help you survive," Kyllian shouted back.

"I didn't kill him. You don't understand. When Galactus was about to win, Adam Warlock, Dr. Strange and the Silver Surfer all three on the brink of death agreed to fuse their powers and life force to stop him one last time. The end result created a means to kill Galactus but at a cost to all three of their lives.

" Somehow they permanently fused in a power feedback. They were gone and I was standing there to face Galactus. They died and ended up creating me. I may have all their memories and merged powers, but I'm a different and separate being with my own soul and mind," Silver Stranger said revealing his secret origin for the first time.

"I don't believe you. Doesn't matter, I'm a member of SHIELD now. Guards, Attack!"" Kyllian shouted as the room lit up revealing dozens of SHIELD troops and Nimrods.

**_The Sentinel Base – Outside the Master Mold Room_**

"We are under attack," Trask told President Kelly.

"Don't worry, Mr. President. We have the enemy engaged," Trask and Fury both informed him.

"Great, we don't have much time. Fury, Reed, get upstairs and initiate phase one. With She-Rock and Luna's powers and essence sucked out of them and fed directly into Master Mold it will create a new wave of Sentinels. Trask, come with me. You need to make sure Master Mold's program is running efficiently so that when the power starts to flow into it we can program and instruct it to start creating our new soldiers. Soon the world will be mine," Kelly said as they all ran to their tasks.

**_New York – Public Execution of the Revengers_**

"Greetings, people of New York and those watching the broadcast from home. Today you will witness the execution of Captain Freedom and his Revengers for terroristic actions against the good people of the world. I know many have had doubts and some have protested but many of you agree it is time to make an example and show that we will not allow Mutants and their protectors the right to break the law and harm the good people of this great country. Let the execution begin!" Grynch shouted as he finished his national broadcasted speech.

A curtain moved away revealing Captain Freedom, American Eagle, Rhino, Nova, Edwin Jarvis and the Exile known as Beak bound by adamantium cuffs to cement slabs. Around their necks was power dampening collars. No matter how much they tried, they could not get loose. Their only choice was to stand tall and go out with pride.

A man with a large gun stepped in from of Rhino. He fired off a blast and when it hit the Rhino he disintegrated slowly and painfully into a pool of melted goo. The Revengers shouts of protest could not be heard over the friend's painful screams or the cheering and booing crowd. Captain Freedom shed a tear for what was happening today, not only for his friends but also to America. He swore again as American Eagle screamed as the same fate as Rhino befell him.

The man stepped up to Captain Freedom and smiled. Just as he was about to pull the trigger a blast hit the gun out of his hands. The gun then exploded in a blast of plasma fire. Grynch and his Avengers looked up to see where the attack had come from.

"That's what you get for messing with my man," She Hulk shouted

"New Warriors, Attack!" Falcon shouted as their team descended upon the advancing Avengers.

**_New Canada – The Mutant Concentration Camps_**

Blink and her team had arrived at the concentration camps. They were worried about how they were going to break in until Phoenix and her X-Force team had arrived launching an all out attack against the camp. All available sentinels had been dispatched to take on the team. This allowed them to sneak in.

They were in a control room and Forge had built a devise to tap into the main system. There were three areas to the camps. The fields are where they kept the mutants de-powered by a creature called Leech where they sat to wait. That was where they found X-Man's name listed along with others they recognized. The second area was the holding cells. This is where they kept mutants that were waiting to be tested on. The last area was the Red Room, were they kept the mutants that they were going to put to death. That is where Forge gasped.

"Cecelia's name is on the Red Room list. I have to hurry before it's too late," Forge said.

"BattleStar and I will head into the fields to get X-Man. Fire Lord and Black Crow you go and free that Leech creature and that will solve the no powers in this place. The rest of you go with Forge and free those in the Red Room and Holding Cells. That Leech person needs to be taken out right away. We can survive for a little bit but we will need our powers to get out of the Fields," Blink said as they went their separate ways.

Forge and his team made it to the Red Room. Lined up against the wall were a few mutants. One by one they were being shot down. They looked and saw the already dead mutants Maggot, Toad, Domino, Puck and Aegis lying on the ground. The gunmen opened fire and they jumped to see Claudette go down. There was one mutant left, Dr Reyes.

"We have to hurry," Forge said as he went crashing through the door pulling out his gun and shooting down soldiers.

It was tough without their powers but they all managed to get Cecilia out and ran off towards the holding cells. Normally they new it would not be this easy but thanks to X-Force a lot of security were distracted. They finally made it to the holding cells and saw Strong Guy, Rictor and Captain Britain caged up. They looked and saw that there were no other mutants in the cells.

"You the only ones in here?" Forge asked as they freed their friends.

"We are now. There were others but they were all taken away," Rictor said.

"Where were they taken to?" Agatha asked.

"Why, to my lab for testing," Mister Sinister said as he walked out of the shadows and hitting a button causing the room to glow.

"What is that?" Forge asked.

"Why, I just released my subjects into this glowing room that allows only them to have powers," Sinister said as a dozens and dozens of muted experiments rushed out of the door behind sinister and attacked the powerless heroes.

Fire Lord and Black Crow made it to the tower where Leech was plugged into a devise that used his powers to dampen everyone's powers. Below him were a bunch of others that were hooked in also helping in the ability to mind control others and to help create the defenses and robot guards. Black Crow could make out Box, Persuasion, Murmur, Vision, Cybermancer, Vision, Starfox, Chance, Mesmero and Synch.

"How are we going to get past all those robot guards?" Fire Lord asked.

"Doesn't matter. We free the kid and we got our powers back," Black Crow said as he jumped out and headed towards the guards as did Fire Lord.

"Yes!" Fire Lord yelled.

Black Crow turned to see that Fire Lord had destroyed the devise freeing all the mutants that were hooked up allowing them to fall to the ground. Black Crow looked up and saw that Leech wasn't free. He was hooked up to something all together different. He heard a shout and turned to see Fire Lord gunned down by the robots. There was no way he was going to get to Leech. He was already growing week from loss of blood and wounds.

"Sorry kid, this is for the better good," Crow said as he hurled a knife at Leech striking him dead in the chest killing him. Crow smiled as the robots started firing blast at him.

Blink and BattleStar made it into the Fields and blended in. There were mutants everywhere; some looked good others looked on the brink of death. They had blended in but they had no idea how they were going to get past all the robot guards out here to get X-Man out of here when they found him. A rugged looking man soon approached them.

"You're new in here? Never seen you before," the man's skin was all blue and he had weird marks on his face. His left arm was missing.

"Yes, we are looking for the man called X-Man. We are here to break him free," Blink whispered.

"Dazzler, come here. These two think they are going to break out of here with Calvin," the blue man laughed.

"Are you serious, Bobby Drake?" the woman known as Dazzler said as she walked up.

"Yes, where can we find him," BattleStar said holding up his shield as proof.

"I am right here. What do you want?" The outsider known as X-Man said walking up.

Blink's heart skipped a beat. This plain looking man in bare feet looked just like her true love, Mimic. She got a hold of herself and approached him. She told him about their mission and showed him the Tallut, which to their surprise stil worked and validated their story.

"Even if he believed you there is no way to get out of here," Dazzler said.

"That's enough, Allison. I must do what I can to get out of here and help them. If I am to save the world and make it right again then I will do it," X-Man said.

"Nice speech, but there is no way you are going to get out of here alive, especially you two troublemakers," Striker said walking near them.

"There are more of us here then there are of you," Battle Star shouted.

"You think?" Striker snapped his finger as they were all soon surrounded by a bunch of robot guards.

"That won't stop me," Battle Star said holding up his shield.

"Oh, but she will," Striker said as Lady Deathstrike stepped out from behind him and gutted Battle Star.

"Lemar, no!" Blink shouted dropping to his side as her teammate died in her arms.

"Now the rest of you," Striker said smiling.

"Wait, look," Iceman said pointing up at the tower where Leech was held. They could see a fight going on and then Leech being killed.

"They did it," Blink said wiping her tears as she put Battle Star down and threw several javelins making robots vanish.

X-Man smiled as his body changed. Wings grew back on his feet and his hair grew out while his eyes turned red. His powers were back. He turned and shouted to all mutants in the Fields, "mutants, your powers are back. Rebel and fight for your lives."

"There are too many, we can't win," a man named Flex said as Striker agreed and warned all of them.

Suddenly a big commotion could be heard. They all looked up in the sky to see Phoenix and her X-Force ripping the sentinels to pieces. It was most impressive, especially the XFE. The sentinels were no match for their phoenix force enhanced powers. Northstar moving in a fiery blur, Shatterstar swinging swords of fire and Psyche hovering causing fiery vision to erupt form peoples minds. It was inspirational.

"That's our cue men. For Battle Star and mutants everywhere. X-treme Brotherhood, attack!" X-Man shouted as Marrow's bone blade erupted from the stub on her right arm and Iceman powered up into a powerful icy mass.

The battle waged as the camp began to fall. Blink looked down at Battle Star, still in shock that he had died. She looked up to see X-Man standing next to her.

"We need to get out of here. I hate leaving my men, but I know they will be okay with X-Force here. We have to get to the secret base so we can save the world," Calvin said to Blink.

"Your going nowhere," Sticker said as he and dozens of guards surrounded them as they saw Lady Death Stryke fly into the fields gutting mutants left and right.

"That's where your wrong," Phoenix said as she landed before them sending guards flying back in a fiery wave.

Suddenly she dropped to one knee in pain as she grabbed her head. Maverick and Shatterstar had been killed by Lady Deathstrike. The force was now weakened. Sticker began to laugh. Jean stood up and made a final play. He moved into the air and took back the power from all her remaining XFE members. A fiery bird could be seen surrounding Jean Howlett.

"You're not going to escape," Sticker said and then was cut off.

Striker erupted in fire and died as he was turned into a ball of fire. "I need the location of the Secret base from your mind. I also need your abilities," Jean said as she pointed at Silhouette and Pathway. They died instantly as they became balls of fire and merged with the other one. Soon Jean moved her arms and the ball if fire became a portal.

"It won't last long. Quickly go through it. It will take you to the secret base," Jean said as her power began to die out.

Blink hesitated as X-Man grabbed her and carried her into the portal. Blink looked back as she saw Lady Deathstrike jump right at Jean with her blades extended. Just as Jean forced out one last powerful blast the portal closed. Blink and X-Man were now in the secret base looking at Master Mold.

**_New York_**

The battle was fierce. Already Nichole St. Croix, Jolt and Absorbing Man had been killed. It was a loss Captain Freedom didn't like or understand. Everyone ones taking a beating while they tried to defend themselves and try and protect the innocents from the fall out of the battle. Then suddenly, something happened somewhere because the mind control vanished from the Avenger's eyes.

"Don't stop, kill them," Grynch demanded.

"No, it's over. We are free," USAgent yelled back.

Grynch pulled out a gun and shot USAgent in the head killing him. "Anyone else defies me and the same will happen to you. See this devise, it is a fail safe. One push and the Hulk is mine again."

War Machine fired a blast at Grynch. Captain Freedom, having placed Agent's gauntlet on his arm blocked the blast with his generated shield. Everyone just stared.

"Cap, why did you do that?" War Machine yelled.

"No matter what he has done, the killing stops now," Captain freedom said.

"What a fool," Grynch said as he shot Cap in the leg causing him to drop. "Now the Hulk will be unleashed."

Just as Grynch's hand went for the devise, two arrows pierced both his eyes killing him. Cap glared at Hawkeye.

"Sorry Cap, some things must be ended," Clint said walking away.

"What now, Steve?"

"It's time to start working together to clean this city up. Avengers Reassemble!" Captain Freedom shouted as he changed the F on his head to an A.

Beak sighed. He knew he was stuck here and wouldn't make it to the Secret Base anytime soon. He felt the Time Quakes getting stronger. He just hoped his friends made it in time.

**_The Secret Base_**

The battle ranged on as Sentinels and Nimrods dropped left and right. So far they had only lost Erg, Shaman and Vindicator. Thora and their team had joined the battle. Even thought they had to get inside they had to get to Iron-Girl first. Luckily the mind control had somehow vanished and Black Panther and Red Queen where on their side again.

During the battle they got to Iron-Girl and explained everything. After losing Gambit and hating what she had become, Iron-Girl agreed to join them. Everyone stayed to battle the Sentinels as Lila Cheney teleported herself and Thora, Morph, Crystal, Red Queen, OctaSym, Punisher, Wong directly into the Master Mold chamber. As they looked around Crystal snuck off to find her daughter.

They were holding their own against the SHIELD agents. WizKid was still trying to get over the death of Callisto. With the battle he couldn't maintain the armor around her and Deathlock had finished her off, but Medusa and Rintrah had made short work of him and destroyed the evil cyborg.

WizKid has lost track of Sam and G.W. Bridge. They were gunning for each other. The world shook as Frost and WizKid felt the Time Quakes. They knew they had to get moving fast. Skids put up a field as Medusa had Lockjaw teleported Dr. Gamma, WizKid and Frost directly into Master Mold's room. They hated leaving the others behind but they all had agreed what was best.

The battle under the base was going strong. Blade danced with ease as he flew taking out agents left and right. Silver Stranger and Kyllian were locked in a heated battle while the rest of them took on agents and Nimrods. So far they had suffered no casualties but they were all wounded.

"Can't you feel that? We have to get up there," Nocturne shouted.

"I agree, I can use my powers to send us right up into the room where the Master Mold is held. We will find Kelley there," Silver Stranger said as he blasted Kyllian through a wall.

"I have a plan," G-Force said as he recited it.

G-Force turned into smoke and blinded everyone while Vibraxas brought the ceiling down. They hated leaving them behind but they had to for the greater good. While distracted, Silver Stranger used his powers to surround Nocturne, Sable, Blade, Scarlet Spider, Black Cat and himself. Just before they vanished Kyllian jumped out sending a killing blast at a preoccupied Silver Stranger.

"I love you Mr. Blaze," Black Cat said as she kissed Scarlet Spider on the cheek and leapt away from them taking the blast herself as the rest of them all vanished. With the last of her strength he leapt atop Kyllian as the ceiling fell down upon them all.

"The power is flowing from Luna and She-Rock to Master Mold below. It seems to be working. When I give you the signal, hit the full power so that all their power and life-force will flow out of them and into Master Mold," Master Fury commanded.

Reed was getting a little nervous. They had been at this awhile and had finally gotten it to work. She-Rock was still conscious and kept staring at him with tears running down her cheek. He still couldn't believe that they had found Sue after all this time.

"Reed, now" Fury commanded.

"No, you're killing her," Crystal screamed running into the room.

"Stupid freak," Fury shouted as he drew his special gun and blasted Crystal backward into the wall. When she didn't move he turned to Reed, "Now!"

"No!" Reed said as he shut off the power flow and turned off the machine.

"What are you doing?" Fury asked.

"Sorry, Nick. Everything I did was a cover up. I only joined SHIELD because it was they only way I knew I could survive to find Sue and protect her. I had to save her from you and your evil Cabinet," Red said as he used his power to make the tubes holding Luna and She-Rock to shatter in flames freeing them.

"Traitor!" Nick yelled as he shot Reed in the chest.

"You shoot Reed. She-Rock not like that," She-Rock said as she used her great strength to send Fury flying backwards into a wall.

Wong came in looking for Crystal and was shocked to see her lying on the floor. He couldn't tell if she was alive or not. He was then pushed to the side as a giant orange rock-like creature carrying a body ran passed him and out of the room.

"Trask, you did it. The power is making Master Mold change. Soon I will be all-powerful with a grand army. No mutants will survive my wrath," Kelly shouted.

Kelly jumped as Iron-Girl, Blink and X-Man appeared out of a portal. Moments later Lila Cheney had teleported in with six more people. Kelly was about to scream when a kid in armor, a white fury beast, a man with green hair and a giant dog appeared out of nowhere. Before he could react, Silver Stranger appeared form the ground with four more people. What was going on?

"You all are too late. Master Mold is almost complete," Kelly laughed and then gasped as all the power from Master Mold shut off.

"What is going on?" Kelly asked.

"I don't know. I will try and reconfigure," Trask said as he sent a bunch of Nimrods at the group that had appeared.

"No you won't," Silver Stranger said as he and Frost and Sable sent their power at him.

The console exploded causing Trask to catch aflame and run screaming. The blast and a powerful Time Quake caused Kelly to lose his balance and fall into the pit where Master Mold sat. At that moment something began to happen. Master Mold and Kelly began to merge into something else.

"What is happening?" Lila asked.

"The thirteenth ripple is being created. Can't you feel the Time Quakes? We have to stop it before the merge is complete," Blink shouted.

Nocturne got close and en electrical surge hit her and Lockjaw frying them to death. All the Outsiders used their powers against the creature that was being created but nothing was happening. Blink turned to see WizKid clad out in Armor and Dr. Banner, now looking like a giant green hulk with long green hair battling Nimrods. If She-Rock wasn't found soon it would all be over.

Blink turned as she saw Nimrod blasts WizKid. She couldn't take it. That was three teammates gone now. She was about to scream when she saw She-Rock come running into the room carrying a man. She quickly teleported to her side.

"She-Rock, you have to go join the others up there. If you don't we will all die," Blink pleaded.

"No, She-Rock leave with Reed," She-Rock said.

"She-Rock, Sue darling. You must do as she says. You must save the world. If not for them, do it for me. I love you and I always have," Reed said as he closed his eyes and went limp.

"Reed, love me?" She-Rock said aloud as she placed Reed on the ground. "I help, Reed."

Blink saw She-Hulk run towards the other Outsiders as the Master Mold Creature turned towards them all. His form was almost complete and it was beginning to take shape and almost made human-like noises. Blink jumped as she saw a Nimrod blast Morph with some kind of beam and then blasted him at the same moment another electrical blast from Master Mold hit the Nimrod and Morph.

Blink thought it was all over when all twelve outsiders took action together. They all held hands and jumped into the creatures and ignited their powers. Thora called forth her mutant and Asgardian storm. Iron-Girl began to use her powers she had acquired from the Phalanx, Iron-Man, Photon and Wolverine. X-Man called forth his five powers he had mimicked. Red Queen called forth dozens of insects. OctaSym extended his "skin" at the creature. Punisher fired her guns and also used her mutant strength that she got from her Atlantian mother.

Frost used his sonic voice that he had inherited from his mother. Sable used her quantum bands and released their power against the creature. Blade used his mutant wings to assist his daywalker powers to send what he had at the creature. Silver Stranger used his power against the creature as Scarlet Spider used his hellfire powers to attack the creature. Last but not least, She-Rock gave her strength and her lost love too.

The creature screamed as it exploded into nothingness sending an electrical fire through the whole room. Blink thought she was done for when she saw all the Outsiders blink out of existence along with the creature. The ripples were all gone. Blink sighed with relief as the whole world went white once again. They had done it.

**Next: Issue #8 – Recovery**

**Note: Want to see more of the Outsiders or the world they came from? Let me know. If the demand is there maybe a series will be written.**


	9. Recovery

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #8 – Recovery**

The white went to black, then back to white. Clarice rubbed her eyes and squinted as the light gave her pause. Her mind was cloudy and then she began to remember what had happened. They has accidentally went into the past and changed it. They then had to find the twelve ripples and get them together to stop the thirteenth from being created to save and revert the world back to the way it was.

Blink sat up and looked around. She was sitting in the grassy fields not too far from WizKid's time machine. She was sitting right back where they had first started with the Tallus on her arm. She stood up and breathed in the fresh air. She looked around and saw she was alone. Hey had succeeded in their mission but at a cost. Clarice got to her feet and wiped a tear.

BattleStar, even thought she hadn't known him long, they had been through a lot together. She had grown to like him and now he was gone, just like Mimic. Seemed like most men in her life didn't stick around long enough. She had seen Nocturne, Morph and WizKid get struck down. She wasn't sure about Beak or Dr. Banner but she assumed that she was all that was left.

"This will never happen again," Blink said as she through two javelins at the time machine causing it to vanish into two separate pieces to two separate locations deep in space.

"A wise choice, Miss Ferguson," the Timebroker said as Clarice turned around in surprise to his voice.

"You! This is all your fault!" Clarice screamed at the man.

"My fault? Your team is the one that went back in time and caused the Time Quake. That is neither here nor there, you have succeeded and all is put right," the Timebroker said.

"So what now? It seems I'm all that is left. When do I get to meet my five new best friends?" Blink asked sarcastically.

"Wrong again, Clarice, on two counts. After seeing what happened, we have decided that seven is a more lucky number than six. Exiles will now be consisted of seven members," the Timebroker said.

"Great, but you said I was wrong about two things?" Blink questioned.

"Yes, that you are all that's left. Some of your other team members did survive and appeared back here too," the Timebroker smiled.

"You are driving me crazy. Out with it, who survived?" Blink asked looking around.

"As you know, BattleStar and IceyLink have been killed, but they are the only ones that died on that mission," the Timebroker said.

"That's good to hear, even though I will miss Lemar and T.J. dearly," Blink said with watery eyes.

"I guess your wrong again," the Timebroker laughed.

"What are you talking about?" Blink asked.

"Nocturne is alive and as well as she can be I guess."

"What do you mean?"

"You see, when Lockjaw and IceyLink were hit IceyLink's body was destroyed and Lockjaw's mind was fried. At that moment, Nocturne had managed to escape and managed to posses a different body," the Timebroker said.

"Really? That is great. So where is she?" Blink said looking around with joy.

"Like I said, Lockjaw's mind was fried but not the inhuman body," the Timebroker said.

"What are you saying?" Blink said as she slowly turned around to see a giant brown dog staring at her.

"Don't say a darn word!" Nocturne's voice said from the giant dog's mouth.

"Oh, T.J.," Blink tried not to laugh. "Is she stuck like this?" She asked turning to the Timebroker.

"Yes. It seems that at that moment when Lockjaw died and IceyLink's body was destroyed Nocturne had managed to phase out and then possess the dog's body. She still has her hex blast powers and the Inhuman's teleporting powers, but like with IceyLink she is stuck in there for now," the Timebroker said.

"She can't just jump out?" Blink asked.

"No, I have tried. I can't survive now unless I possess something's body. I can't possess a living person like I did before. I have my Hex powers, whatever powers the being has and my actual voice comes out. There is a chance I could jump, but the Timebroker believes it was to be a freshly killed being. Between what happened originally with IceyLink and then with Lockjaw my possession powers have changed. So, yes I am stuck for now," T.J. swore.

"Oh, T.J., at least you're alive," Blink said running over and hugging the big dog.

"Do not pet me," Nocturne smirked.

"Don't worry, maybe one of the next worlds we go to will have a means of fixing this," Blink said as she scratched behind Nocturne's ears.

"Stop that!" Nocturne barked as her leg began to thump.

"What about the others?" Blink asked.

"WizKid had been seriously wounded. He has been found and rushed to the hospital. Not sure if he will make it or not but all of this will seem and be taken by others as a dream," Timebroker said.

"We should check on him," Blink said.

"No, that can't be permitted. He was not a designated member of this team. He just happened to be a part of the last mission. It's better to leave him alone and go on record as a weird dream," Timebroker told them.

"Plus, this was kind of all his fault to begin with. What?" T.J. cringed a little from Blink's glare.

"What about Morph, Beak and Dr. Gamma?" Blink asked.

"Beak's offer of staying stands, and after what happened he has decided to return to his family. In order to make it seem like he had never left, he had to go immediately. He did tell me to tell you all good-bye," Timebroker said.

"I'm glad he got to go home. I just hate how we never get to say good-byes," Nocturne whimpered.

"Morph is right there," Timebroker said pointing to a tree where Morph sat.

"I just can't wait to hear what he has to say," T.J. said as she and Blink walked over to Morph.

"Who's the dog?" Morph asked Blink.

"Believe it or not, it's Nocturne. She's stuck in Lockjaw's body for now," Blink said chuckling.

"Great. Well, we'll find a way to get her out. At least we have another teleporter on the team," Morph said standing up.

"What? That's it? No jokes or turning into a fire hydrant?" Nocturne barked.

"You see, before the change he had been it by electricity and two types of beams from a Nimrod unit. He has lost his ability to shape shift. He's still invulnerable and can regenerate, he just can't tap into his shape-shifting abilities. So, he can still remain on the team," the Timebroker said.

"Well, at least not all is lost, You're still stuck with us," Blink laughed as Morph sighed.

"Wow, I think he lost his humor too." Nocturne said.

"Bite me," Morph grumbled.

"I just might," T.J. growled.

"That's enough you two. What counts is that your both still here. We can figure out how to fix both your conditions later," Blink said.

"There's isn't the only one to fix," the Timebroker smirked.

"What do you mean? Did something happen to Banner?" Blink asked almost forgetting about the other one of their newest members.

"As you can see, the last mission altered Mr. Banner. He evolved into that," Timebroker said.

They all turned to see a giant green skinned creature sitting on the grass. He looked like how most world Hulks looked like except that their "Hulk" had real long green hair tied back in a ponytail. As they got closer they saw that he was watching a caterpillar crawl across his hands. His eyes were innocent and he was being very gentle.

"Dr. Gamma, good to see you alive," Blink said.

"Hi pretty lady," Dr. Gamma said softly.

"What is wrong with him?" Blink asked turning to the Timebroker.

"During his last battle, the gamma in his blood caused him to transform into this Hulk-like creature. While making him a lot stronger it has devolved his mind. He is child-like and you will find he does not anger easily or resort to violence," Timebroker said.

"What, now we have to baby-sit too?" Nocturne asked.

"Me no baby. I like pretty doggie," Dr. Gamma said as he got up and tried to pet Nocturne.

"You all will have to deal with that. He is still apart of your team," Timebroker said.

"We'll have to find a way to trigger his transformation back. So, you are the three members joining us?" Blink asked as she saw Morph leaning against a tree, watching Nocturne try to get a way from Dr. Gamma.

"The first you will recognize from your last mission," the Timebroker said as a portal opened and a person stepped out.

They all looked at the new person joining them. It was a woman in a black leather out fit with a "X" "F" emblem above her left breast. Her head and her hands were not covered exposing her blue skin. Her eyes looked like fire as streaks of flame could be seen woven through her long red hair. Even with the missing Phoenix tattoo gone from her face, she still recognized the lady who had sacrificed herself and many others so that they would not fail.

"Phoenix, your alive? How can this be?" Blink asked both her and the Timebroker.

"I'm not sure. One minute I was in the concentration camp releasing my power and then Lady Deathstrike had her claws in me, the next I'm in a white room getting briefed on my new mission as an Exile," Phoenix said.

"She was using the full extent of her power when time corrected itself. She got misplaced somehow. We're still not sure what happened, but until things get figured out we grabbed her and decided to place her on your team," Timebroker said.

"I still have a touch of the Phoenix Force in me but it is very small and weak. I can't tap into it like I once could but I will make do with what I have to help your team again," Phoenix said to them.

"We're glad to have you with us, Jean," Blink said.

"Besides, Jean Howlett here, I would like you to meet your next member," the Timebroker said as another person stepped out of a portal.

She looked to be about sixteen years old. She wore a costume of all green spandex with purple boots, gloves and shoulders. On her chest were two overlapping Purple "P's". She had deep green eyes and short red hair. None of them recognized her as any variation of heroes that they knew of. She winked at Blink and waved at the others.

"Colorful group here. Almost reminds me of my team, the New Warriors," the girl said.

"Everyone, meet Power Pack," the Timebroker said.

Power Pack's real name was Alexis Power. She was the daughter of Jack and Paige Power. In her reality, Jack was the only one of his siblings to receive powers from an alien. After the Snarks killed his family and the Fantastic Four had saved him, he had went to join the New Mutants to learn how to use his powers. There he met Paige Guthrie, the mutant known as Husk.

Soon, they grew up and married and had a child. They named her Alexis after his older brother. As she got older they discovered she had inherited the mutant gene from her mother and a small variation of each of her fathers powers. When she got older, she rebelled and ran off to join the New Warriors instead of training for the X-Men like her parents.

"Now for your final member," the Timebroker said as a final person stepped out of the portal and it closed.

A man wearing a blue costume walked out. The costume and mask covered his whole, very muscular body except for his hands. The skin on his right hand was white while the skin on his left hand was black. They could also see his eyes through his mask. His right eye was bright, as the sun while his left eye was a dark as night. He carried no weapons on his person.

"Everyone, this is Darklight," the Timebroker said.

Darklight's real name was Ty Bowen. In his reality Tyrone Johnson and Tandy Bowen never became heroes. They got their powers but stayed on the streets using drugs. They had fallen in love and Tandy got pregnant. Before the baby was born, Tyrone overdosed and died. After Tandy gave birth, she named the baby Ty after his dad. She joined the church and tried to clean up her act.

After a few years, when Ty had turned five, his skin had changed. Instead of being black, half his body turned white. She saw the change in his eyes too, one becoming dark and the other becoming light. She panicked and abandoned the child and went back to the streets and drugs. The father of the church in secret raised Ty until he hit puberty and his powers completely manifested. At this point, Xavier took him in to learn to control his powers. After a few years he had gained control of his powers and left the X-Men to become a vigilante hero to put a stop to crime and drugs.

"Now that you all have met, I must take leave. You all take the time to recover and in the morning it will be time for your next mission," the Timebroker said as he vanishes and they soon found themselves on a secluded beach with huts.

"Where funny man go?" Dr. Gamma asked as he continued to pet Nocturne.

"Who knows. Nocturne, I know you hate this, but you seem to be the only one able to calm and control our Kid Gamma," Blink said.

"Not funny," Nocturne growled a little.

"So, you're really a live person stuck in the body of a dog?" Power Pack asked laughing a little.

"Oh, I'm so going to bite someone," Nocturne barked as she ran off down by the ocean as Dr. Gamma ran after laughing and wanting to play.

"Talk about bitter," Alexis said.

"You would be too," Morph grumbled as he walked over and disappeared into a hut.

"I see this whole team is full of happy people," Alexis said.

"Don't take it the wrong way. We have all been through a lot. We'll all feel better in the morning," Blink said as she walked toward the ocean were Banner kept splashing water at the dog.

"So, what do you two want to do?" Alexis asked Jean and Ty.

"Excuse me, but I'm not much for conversation right now. I'm here to do my part and then go back home," Darklight said as he walked off into a hut.

"Don't worry kid. I'll look after you. Everyone can use a friend," Jean said as she put her arm around Alexis and they walked toward the others near the water, her left eye flaring for a brief moment.

**Next: Issue #9 – Santa-X**


	10. SantaX

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #9 – Santa-X**

After a moment of whiteness, the world became clear. The new Exiles team found themselves standing in the middle of a snow covered park. Judging by the star filled sky and empty park, it had to be late evening. Blink looked around at her team as she shivered from the cold air. It was times like these that she wished she had a warmer costume. Her new team was as stable as she could hope for, especially after three missions.

Nocturne shook her large body to keep the snow from off of her fur. As much as she hated being trapped in the body of the giant Inhuman dog Lockjaw, she had become valuable with her new teleportation powers and returned hex bolts. She remained a good sport with only the occasional threat to bite. Blink was just glad that her old friend was still alive, no matter what form she may be in.

Blink looked over at Morph. He had finally come around after the last two missions. He went from being happy and annoying to depressed and quiet when he lost his abilities to shape shift. Having learned that still being invulnerable gave him a good edge on this team and that it wasn't the end of the world his humor had started to come back. He may not be able to shape shift but he could still annoy Nocturne the giant dog. He was almost himself again.

Blink vowed to find a way to help them somehow along with Dr, Gamma. She glanced at Banner as he whined about the cold. Leonard had not been on the team as long as the other two but he still became a good friend and ally during the Time Quake mission. So when he helped save all reality, it had cost him dearly too. He now was an over-muscled green hulk with the mind of a child. His greatly increased powers where hindered by his innocence, lack of courage and refusal for violence. So far, they had found a way to manage him thanks to the giant dog nocturne.

Blink laughed and then stopped as she glanced over at Phoenix. Jean Howlett had sacrificed her life during the Time Quake mission to help them, but had somehow removed herself before that universe vanished. Not sure what to do, the Timebroker had placed her on their team. Even though she's no longer as powerful as she once was and couldn't call forth the Phoenix Force, she had proved herself a strong and dependable member. Blink didn't know what bothered her more, that she might lose leadership of the team to her or that despite all Jean had done she couldn't force herself to trust the woman.

Standing next to Jean was the youngest member of the team, Power Pack. Alexis Power was full of spirit and energy. It annoyed Blink how positive and cheerful the girl always remained. Even during these missions she looks at the brighter side and remains chipper. She adds to the team, but with time her skills will get better. Blink had noticed that she had become close to Jean almost immediately, almost like mother and daughter. Blink didn't know why it bothered her. Was it from her lack of trust in Jean or her jealousy of seeing something similar to what she had with Sabretooth back in her reality?

Blink shook off her thoughts as she glanced next to her at Darklight. Ty Bowen was the son of his reality's version of Cloak and Dagger. Having lost both parents he had dedicated his life to cleaning up the streets. As much as his vigilante attitude and brute force scared her, she admired his ability to never cross the line and take a life. She had tried to get to get to know him better but Ty never opened up and refused to let anyone get close to him. He never removed his mask and he pretty much kept to himself. Despite all that, Blink felt as if she could trust the man with her life.

"What's the Tallus say?" Darklight asked getting right to business.

"It indicates that it's temporarily offline," Blink said slightly concerned.

"Offline? Why is it offline?" Phoenix asked.

"I don't know. I'm trying to see if I can get something," Blink said tapping the devise on her wrist.

"Gamma cold," Dr. Gamma said shivering as he tried to snuggle up against Nocturne's fur.

"Get off me. What ever we do we have to get out of the cold before we freeze," Nocturne barked.

"We could pass the time with a snowball fight?" Morph suggested as he aimed at the giant dog.

"Don't you dare!" Nocturne screamed. "Or I'll teleport you to Antarctica," Nocturne began to growl.

"A snowball fight would be fun, but it is a bit cold out her," Power Pack said smiling.

"Okay, I've got something. It says that systems are down while it continues to mask our presence. Once it establishes a permanent cloak from Santa-X it will relay our mission," Blink told the others.

"Who is Santa-X?" Nocturne asked.

"Must be the bad guy we are sent here to stop if it's trying to keep us hidden from him," Jean said.

"Are you sure? If the guy is called Santa-X he can't be bad," Alexis said.

"Actually, Santa-X is very evil. No child is safe when he comes," a woman with long blond hair said stepping out from behind a tree.

"Then we have to stop him," Darklight said.

"Wait, who are you and what can you tell us about this Santa-X?" Jean asked stepping in front of Blink.

"Sorry, my name is Alicia Storm. Maybe you should come with me. Midnight is approaching and we don't have much time," Alicia Storm said as she started across the park.

"Why, what happens at midnight?" Blink asked taking the lead again.

"It becomes X-Mas Eve and Santa comes," Alicia said as they all began to run to keep up with her.

**_Interlude_**

"David, I'm proud with how far you've come," Sabretooth said.

"Thanks, Mr. Creed," David Richards said.

Victor was glad he had chosen to stay behind and leave the reality hopping team. Not only did staying behind to keep David from becoming evil help him find that bond he was missing from his adopted daughter Blink, but he was getting tired of the over violent ways Weapon X was becoming. As he smiled at the boy, he briefly wondered what had happened to his team after he killed Deadpool that only left Hulk, Storm, Spider and Vision.

"David?" Victor jumped back to reality when he sensed the boy was gone.

Victor began to panic when he suddenly found himself in a white room. This smelled completely of the Timebroker and it was making him angry. He had made it clear he was done with them when he stayed to help David. Victor was ready to do some serious damage.

"Okay, Timebroker. Where's David?" Victor growled.

"Victor, he's been dead a long time," a man in white said appearing before him.

"Liar!" Victor growled as he leapt at the man.

"You better calm yourself. I don't have much time for any rough housing," the man in white said appearing behind Victor as he slammed into the wall.

"You better talk fast," Victor said jumping to his feet.

"You see, David was killed. Spider killed him and everyone vanished believing he was alive and you stayed to help him. Because we could not leave you in that reality or put you back in your reality we put you in a cell where you continued to dream all that you have up till we woke you and put you in this room," the man in white said.

"You're lying!" Victor shouted even though he could feel the truth of it all.

"As you know, I'm not. Right now, we need your help," the Timebroker said.

"You have a lot of explaining to do," Victor said as he followed the man reluctantly out of the room.

"As you know, we send teams out to fix realities with promises of them getting to go home when enough realities have been fixed. You see that is a little white lie," the man in white said.

"What do you mean, a lie? You mean we truly never get to go home?" Victor asked with anger.

"Oh, we can send you home but it's not that easy. We tell you that to buy us time. We can't send you back home unless a window of time opens up that will allow us to place you back without causing a problem with yours or any other reality. That's why when one of you gets to go home it happens so fast. If we don't make that time then we never know when another chance will open," the man in white said.

"I'm confused. I think you have a lot of explaining to do," Victor said as they walked through a large white door.

"Yes, because of the nature of what has happened, I have been instructed to explain it all," the white man said as he let Victor clearly into the new room.

"You better start from the beginning," Victor said as he saw the large room filled with giant red crystals. Some had shapes in them while others had been clearly shattered and pieces of red crystals covered the white floor.

**_End Interlude_**

The Exiles had found themselves sitting in the living room of Susan and Reed Richards. In this reality they had never gained any super powers. They appeared to be normal and had one child, Franklin Richards. Also sitting in the room was Alicia and her husband and Susan's brother John Storm. They had just got married a few months ago and were living with the Richard's till they found a house of their own.

The Richards would not say anything more to them until they told them who they were. Blink introduced her team and explained what the Exiles do. The Richard's were very interested in their story and had mentioned that people with powers didn't exist on their world. Blink did notice that they were not shocked and seemed to accept their story very easily. She knew there was something more to this world.

"As you can see, we mean no harm. We are here to save or prevent something," Blink finished her tale.

"See, Sue. They are here to help us save Franklin from Santa-X," Alicia shouted.

"Alicia, quiet," Richard began to say.

"Reed, I think she is right. I trust what you have planned but I think we can use them," Susan said.

"We assure you, that if you tell us what is going on and who this Santa-X is we can help," Jean said avoiding Blink's glare.

"Please, Reed, tell us everything," Blink said.

"Okay, your right, Susie," Reed said and then he began his tale.

He told the Exiles that here on their Earth people were normal. No one had powers and everyone led normal lives. The world was pretty much a giant utopia, except for one thing. The price for freedom and peace was the bounty collected by Santa-X. Santa-X is an evil creature that appears once a year. No one knows what he is or where he comes from but he has been around for centuries.

This Santa-X appears on Earth with his list every X-Mas Eve at the stroke of midnight. He travels the globe with his Reinhounds collecting the children on his list. At the stroke of midnight he vanishes with his collection of children and doesn't return for another year while the people of the world celebrate X-Mas Day. Some that their children where spared while others celebrate another year of peace.

Folklore says that by giving Santa-X the children without fight pays they way for peace. It is said that if Santa is denied even one child that a portal to the Hellpole will open and Santa's Demon Elves and Snowmonsters will invade and destroy the Earth. So it has been declared World Law to sit back and allow Santa-X to take any child he wants.

"You think Franklin is on Santa-X's list?" Nocturne said as Franklin petted her.

"You see, one of the reasons we aren't taken back by you is that Franklin is unique, he is like you," Susan said.

"What do you mean?" Blink asked.

"That Franklin is a mutant. He can enter dreams and sometimes sees the future in them," Phoenix said looking at the boy.

"How did you know that?" John said stepping near his nephew.

"Jean, I warned you about reading minds without permission," Blink said and then tuned to the Richards. "Phoenix is a telepath. She can hear thoughts. So Franklin has powers?"

"Yes, the first ever on this planet. He started talking about the future and appearing in our dreams towards the beginning of this year. Then, a few months ago he appeared in my dreams and we both saw Santa-X coming for him," Reed said.

"And you plan on breaking law to save your son?" Morph asked as he egged Franklin on to pester a snarling Nocturne.

"Wouldn't you? I don't care what they say. I will not stand by and let my baby be taken," Susan said.

"How do you plan on fighting him?" Darklight asked.

"A bunch of us got together after the dream a few months ago and we have been working ever since. Please follow me," Reed said leading them down into a secret room in the basement.

Once they had reached the secret room they found themselves face to face with five other people. Reed informed the Exiles that they had been listening to their conversation the whole time and knew who they were. He then introduced the other five strangers to them.

"This is my best friend Ben Grimm. Victor Von Doom, Tony Stark and Hank Pym were college lab partners of mine. This is Jim Rhodes, Tony's husband and Janet Pym, Hank's wife. We have all worked together to create the means to stop Santa-X. Exiles, meet the Defenders," Reed said as he pressed a button on a control panel.

The wall in front of them slid away revealing ten impressive suits of armor and a small robot. Tony, Victor, Hank, and Reed took turns describing how they had built these suits of armor. Each armor was equipped with different powers and would be worn by each of them. They hadn't been tested but they were sure the Defenders would stop Santa-X and keep Franklin safe.

"If all ten of you are fighting in these suits who will be looking after your son?" Power Pack asked.

"The small robot is called HERBIE. He will protect my son. If Santa-X does get past all of us, HERBIE is programmed to defend our son against the monster," Reed said.

"Sue, what if HERBIE fails?" Blink asked Sue quietly.

"I have that covered. There are two things Richard doesn't know about. One, while HERBIE engages Santa-X he splits in two. The bottom half encases Franklin and jets away while the top half detonates. The explosion will be strong enough to level this whole neighborhood. The price of some innocents outweighs the fact my son will be safe and that monster will have been killed," Sue whispered back.

"What about the second?" Blink asked.

"That the escape pod will take Franklin to his biological father, a rich business man named Namor McKenzie," Sue said as she walked quickly over to retrieve her son before Nocturne got to rabid at his rough play.

Before Blink to say another word, the Tallus beeped. She looked down and read the information while Reed explained the suits of armor. His armor was called the Fantastic. It could extend it limbs. Sue's white armor was called the Invisible Girl. It had a cloaking devise that made her invisible and fire powerful force blasts. John's red armor, the Torch generated power fire blasts while his wife's armor; the Puppet Master could send a sock that would temporarily control her opponents movements.

Tony's Iron-Man and Jim's War Machine possesses great weaponry as well as Victor's Doom-Bot. Hank's Yellow Jacket armor and Janet's Wasp armor generated great speed and powerful stinger blasts. Ben Grimm orange armor gave him enhanced strength. As HERBIE ushered off Franklin the Defenders began to suit up. Blink quickly motioned to her team.

"Looks like the Tallus is up and I just got our mission," Blink said.

"What is it?" Morph asked.

"I think we need to step outside," Blink said as she told the Defenders that they would meet them out side.

"We'll be right there. It's 11:50 and Santa-X will be here soon," Sue said walking over to her armor.

Blink and her team got outside and she quickly told them what she had just learned. Their mission was to protect Santa-X and allow him to take Franklin at any cost.

"What? We can't let the little kid be stolen," Power Pack said.

"I agree, that can't be an option," Darklight spoke up.

"There is more to the story. What is it?" Jean asked.

"Santa-X has to take Franklin. If he doesn't, Franklin will grow up to become very powerful and evil and will result in the destruction of the Earth. Also, if Santa-X does die it will also lead to the destruction of this planet. It seems Santa-X is a mutant by the name of Charles Xavier.

"He uses a devise called Cerebra to help him find children that have developed powers or are about to develop them. He prepares all year tracking and locating these children. On X-Mas Eve he comes out of hiding and gathers these children. He then hooks them up to a devise and prepares for battle.

"On New Year's Eve a Portal opens giving an evil being named Cain a chance to come through. This juggernaut has the power to destroy the Earth. The devise sucks the children's life and power energy from them and blast Cain keeping him at bay till the portal closes New Year's Day. Any child still alive, Xavier drains their life and power force and feeds it into him making him young and strong and immortal. In sacrificing the children, he is saving the world. We have no choice. We have to bring down the Defenders," Blink said.

"I will not kill them, but I will do what I can to allow the child to be taken," Darklight said as he, like most the others, did not like the idea of allowing the event to occur, but they had no choice. It was the only way to save this world and allow them to move on.

"I have come for the child," Santa-X shouted as his sleigh and twelve Reinhounds appeared from the sky.

Quickly, ten armored beings known as the Defenders blasted into the air. He Exiles watched for a moment as they started to quickly take out Reinhounds. They had to move quickly before Santa-X failed.

"Nocturne, I want you to go in and teleport HERBIE miles away then bring the child out here. The rest of you, engage the Defenders till Nocturne returned with the child and we can deliver him to Santa-X," Blink said hating what they had to do next.

'What are you doing? I thought you were suppose to help us?" Invisible Girl screamed as Phoenix sensed her invisible form and sent her crashing into a house.

"Sorry, Defenders, but Santa-X must take your child or he will grow up to destroy the Earth," Blink said as she hit Thing causing him to vanish from sight.

"We have the power to stop all of you evil pawns," Torch shouted as he blasted Santa-X's sleigh knocking him to the ground.

Doom-Bot landed in front of Santa-X. He laughed when Charles realized the armor protected them from his mind powers. Doom-Bot fired a blast at the bald man clad in red. Just as the blast was near him, Power Pack landed in front of him and she absorbed the blast. She then ran up to Doom-Bot and called forth her powers.

"Time to fly," Alexis smiled as her fist hit Victor causing him to launch into the air and flying back several blocks away.

"Thank you," Charles said.

"Don't worry. We are the Exiles and we are here to make sure you get the child. We know what you must do to save this planet as do we," Alexis smiled as she brought Dr. Gamma near Charles.

"Me no fight," Dr. Gamma said.

"Banner, you know what happens if you protect Santa from the evil robots?" Alexis smiled.

"What?"

"He then delivers presents to boys and girls all around the world,"

"Present for me?"

"Yes even you," Alexis smiled as Banner swore to protect Santa and she took off into the air.

War Machine landed in front of Darklight and two racket launchers popped out. Darklight leapt quickly and landed behind Jim. He then placed his left hand on the armor. A sweeping darkness left his hand and surrounded the Defender. Jim began to scream.

"What are you doing to him?" Iron-Man screamed as he flew towards his lover.

In mid flight Tony stopped. Phoenix flew up to him and held him with her powers. Her eyes flared as the armor was ripped off his body and she let him hit the ground. Darklight released his powers and the darkness vanished. War Machined lay upon the ground as you could hear Jim whimpering inside. Darklight ran to Tony's side and placed his right hand on his chest. A white light flared around his body healing his broken bones.

"What are you doing?" Jean asked.

"We don't kill," Darklight said and then returned to battle.

Yellow Jacket and Wasp kept blasting Morph but he just kept getting up and healing. The man was invulnerable and just wouldn't die. Morph wished he could do more than serve as a distraction. It worked well, as Blink appeared behind then and then teleported them both away somewhere.

"I will stop you from taking my son," Reed said as he neared Dr. Gamma and Santa-X.

"Me not let you hurt Santa," Banner said as he started to throw cars.

Reed avoided the cars as he advanced. He shot out his arms as they extended and hit Dr. Gamma hard in the chest. Banner then sat down and began to cry. Charles panicked as he was lifted into the air by an invisible force. Sue was in stealth mode and had made it to Santa-X.

"You will die," Sue said squeezing harder and showing herself.

"Not today," Nocturne said as she and Franklin appeared and she sent a Hex Bolt at Sue knocking her away from Santa-X.

"Mom!" Shouted Franklin.

"Sorry kid," Jean said as she used her mind to lift the child and place him in Charles's arms.

"Thank you for your help, but I must be getting this one back," Charles said.

"Charles, open your mind to Phoenix here on where you need to go. She will send that to Nocturne here and she will teleport you there in an instant with the child," Blink said as the remaining members of the Defenders screamed.

In a flash Santa-X and Franklin were gone. Puppet Master, Torch and Doom-Bot advanced on them all as Reed helped his wife up. Before any of them could react, the Exiles felt the familiar hold as everything went white and they vanished from sight headed towards their next mission.

**Next: Issue #10 – Justice**


	11. Justice

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #10 – Justice**

**_Earth 9856_**

"This place looks normal enough," Alexis, the mutant known as Power Pack said.

The seven members of the Exiles had appeared out of no where atop the rooftop of a five-story building. They sky was clear and a gentle breeze brushed their faces. From the skyline and the mountains, they could tell they were in Colorado. When reality hopping they never knew what condition the world would be in upon their arrival. This time, it looked very normal.

Clarice, the Exiles leader known as Blink brushed her bangs back from the wind. The last few missions had been quick and back to back. Even though she and her team were tired, it had helped them move past the incident with the Richard's child. She wasn't cold or heartless, but unlike Alexis and the others she had gotten used to having to do what you needed to do to complete the mission. Sometimes, you can find alternatives, but most of the time you had to do what's necessary. Survival was key and she had learned that fast growing up on the world she had come from.

"Earth to Clarice. You with us?" Nocturne said as she wagged her tale.

"Sorry, was deep in thought," Blink answered.

"Care to share your thoughts?" Jean asked with a smile.

"No!" Blink glared at the woman's red eyes as they burned past the deep blue skin.

"So, what's the mission?" Darklight asked, his strange eyes glaring at Blink.

"We have to bring down the Warriors. In this reality, when Vance Astro killed his father, he never turned himself in and paid for his crime. Instead he went on the run and Firestar chased after him. Firestar was suppose to find him and bring him in, but a trigger happy cop fired and killed her.

"This caused Vance's secondary mutation to manifest, the ability to supercharge a person's powers, and to go mad with grief. He took on the name Justice and he now controls all of Colorado. A group of other super beings, loyal friends and addicts to the super charge, have teamed up with Justice to form the Warriors," Blink told them.

"Poor Vance. He and Angelica were great mentors and leaders to the New Warriors in my world," Alexis said.

"We have to remember, no matter how familiar these people look, they aren't the friends we know," Nocturne barked.

"Why haven't the other heroes of the Earth stopped him?" Jean asked.

"According to the Tallus, Justice and Speedball have somehow merged their powers with a device Hindsight Lad created and attached to Vance's body which creates a force field around the whole state that prevents anyone form getting in or out. Magic or teleporting won't work. We're just lucky the Timebroker phased us inside Colorado," Blink said.

"So, why do we have to bring him down?" Morph asked as he kept tapping Dr. Gamma's shoulder and making him look to find no one there.

"If we don't, in a year's time, Justice will kill the President and the government will create a registration act for super heroes that will lead to a civil war that will destroy the United States," Blink said as she smiled at the sight of Kevin getting his humor back.

"If we kill him, the force field will go down and will let the heroes of this world in," Phoenix said smiling.

"Is killing always your first choice? I think we can take him down without the loss of life," Darklight said in a flat tone.

"Where I come from, to save yourself and your friends it's either them or us," Jean said wincing as once again she found herself unable to touch the man's thoughts. It angered her that somehow his powers shielded his mind.

"As was mine, but you learn that killing is not always the first or right choice. As leader of this team, there is to be no killing. That's all that keeps us from becoming like them," Blink said glaring at Jean.

Blink knew what kind of world Phoenix had come from. Mutants hunted and shot down by the President and his Cabinet. It was nothing compared to the dark world she had come from. Blink knew not everyone came from a nice world, but one thing she would not allow is for this team to become like that other team, Weapon X before they ended. Like it or not, the Exiles would stand for something good.

"Gamma no like killing," Dr. Gamma said looking up at the others.

"Neither do I," Kevin said as he side tripped Gamma into Nocturne causing them to play wrestle against the giant dog's whishes.

"How do we find them?" Power Pack asked.

"Even in my diminished state, I can feel their thoughts. The Warriors are coming to us," Jean said pointing towards the mountains in the distance.

They all looked as eight shapes moved at a fast pace towards them. The man flying point and carrying the others was Justice. Blink readied her team. She could tell this was not going to be easy.

**_The Time Brokerage _**

"Let me get this straight, all these pink crystals hold all the people you have recruited?" Creed said looking at the room as a few men in white ran around like crazy while others cleaned up the broken crystals and the other damage done to the room.

"Just the ones we haven't been able to send back. We have several teams we put together, but this room holds any members recruited for Exiles and Weapon X, our two best teams," the Timebroker said.

"I see," Creed nodded.

The Timebroker had filled him in on a lot of what had happened since he had left the team. They had made a mistake by recruiting the wrong Hyperion. This Hyperion decided he wanted to quit following orders and rule his own planet. He had even corrupted other members of the team. Because of this, it was decided that they could not afford to have this Weapon X running missions any more. They also knew they did not have the time and energy to pull and replace the whole team.

What they did was have the Exiles go to the world Weapon X was on. Hyperion had to be stopped at all costs and could not be allowed the ability to escape. So they shut off the replacement generators so that if anyone died a new recruit would not be sought out and sent. By doing this and cutting of the time field for both teams they were able use that energy to seal of that reality from time. No one could leave or enter that reality anymore.

The last message they got was that they had to kill Hyperion. It went badly and many lost their lives. In the end Hyperion was killed and the surviving members of the Exiles had prevailed. Knowing that they had a good thing in the Exiles they decided to keep them in service. They drained the remaining energy from that reality and used it to power up the resources to send the Exiles back in action.

"Why didn't you start up Weapon X again?" Creed asked.

"Like I said, we didn't have the energy and resources to start another team like that up again. It may seem like it's nothing to pull people from realities or send them home or reality hoping, but it's not. Everything has to be done with correct timing and careful energy usage or you could destroy realities in a blink of an eye. Hate to have another Time Quake," the Timebroker said.

"Okay. What about the people in these crystals?" Creed asked as he stepped up to one and could make out a black man in a red, white and blue costume.

"Like I said, when a time opening occurs we can place the person back in their reality. For those that die or become unable to continue on, we pull and place in these status crystals. We can't leave remains or bodies, alive or dead in any reality. To do so would risk another abnormality to occur.

"In the event an opening does occur, we send the live ones back. Unless it seems appropriate, we try not to waist the resources to send the dead back," the Timebroker said.

"So your telling me that these crystals here hold the bodies or remains of everyone that has ever been a member of the Exiles or Weapon X?" Creed said taking a quick glance to see if he could see anyone from his time on the team.

"Yes, minus the few that did get to go home," the Timebroker said.

"I get it, but I'm still peeved at what you did to me," Creed growled.

"We had no choice. The boy had to die and you refused to go on. If we let the boy live that reality would not be repaired. There was nothing you could do to prevent that. This was one of those where we had no choice. Everyone faded out thinking all was well, then at the last moment we instructed Spider to kill him and placed you in a crystal where you dreamed what you had," the Timebroker said.

"That was a mistake," Creed growled as anger fueled him.

"Yes, in more ways than one. You see, by doing that it gave Spider some knowledge and power. He shared that with Hyperion which led to his taking over a planet knowing we couldn't just pull him out until that world was placed right," Timebroker said.

"Yeah, but he bit the big one," Creed said.

"Yes and no. His dead body was automatically placed in a crystal. Little did we expect, he regenerated and came back to life. He is truly powerful and was even able to break free from the crystal, which no one has ever done. Our guards were on him instantly, but he killed them with ease and even managed to get his hands on a Timeporter, a devise that allows a person to teleport between realities.

"The damage he could cause with that was unfathomable. He quickly located Spider and Ms Marvel, two members that had served him well on Weapon X. Even though they were thought dead, while in the status chamber, Spider's symbiote and Ms Marvel's powers had also regenerated them back to life. There was also one other he spotted that had regenerated, Deadpool and broke him free.

"Before we could contain them, he used the Timeporter and they vanished. Before doing that he had been able to download coordinates into it and went to Earth 181. They managed to recruit ex-Weapon X member Daredevil before he was executed for his crimes as KingPin's assassin. By the time our team got there they jumped to the last preset coordinates he had downloaded.

"They arrived on Earth 2020 and with his team, was able to break free ex-Weapon X member Iron Man before he was executed by his people. This time, when our team arrived, Daredevil made quick work of them. He chose his team well. Now with Iron Man's brains, the devise has been redesigned to mask their presence from us. Who knows what else Stark could do to that devise," the Timebroker said.

"So, how do I fit into the picture?" Creed asked knowing the answer already.

"Hyperion and his team are jumping from reality to reality causing destruction and chaos. We believe he is hoping the devise will eventually bring him back here where he will be able to take control and do only gods know what. Until then, they port and do as much damage as they can.

"By the time they do enough to cause a shift in that reality for us to be alerted and send a team to fix, they are gone or they kill that first team and then move on. We are playing catch up and can't afford to let him keep causing damage to realities or risk him finally jumping back here," Timebroker said.

"Like I said, what do you want me to do?" Creed glared.

"You're one of the best. We want you to lead a new team of Weapon X, hunt down and take out Hyperion and his team," Timebroker said as Creed bared a small smile.

_**Earth 9856**_

"How did you get in here?" Justice asked as his team hovered over the Exiles.

"It doesn't matter. We're here to take you down, Justice," Blink said.

"Warriors, kill them," Justice comanded as he released his team allowing them to drop to the rooftop below.

Speedball flew at Blink. He was so fast she couldn't get a javelin on him to teleport him away. The super charge that Justice gave them really did power them up. All she could do was barely dodge his bouncing blows. She would have to come up with something fast and get to Justice. As she dodged she hoped her teammates held their own against these supercharged warriors.

Darklight stared at the woman who landed in front of him. She had a dark black costume with long black hair. No matter what reality she may be from, he would never forget those eyes. He knew, standing before him was his mother, or this reality's version of his mother. This realization caused him to hesitate.

"Not going to be much of a fight for Dagger, huh?" Dagger laughed as her body appeared supercharged with a bright glow.

Dagger waved her arms and dozens of sharp daggers of light flew at Darklight. Even though he moved just in time, his hesitation did cost him a light dagger to his side. Even as the dagger of light vanished, the wound and blood was real. It appeared that the super charge made the daggers more lethal. He leapt and placed his left hand on the woman that looked almost like his mother.

Calling forth his powers, a field of darkness surrounded Dagger. Before he could claim victory, the darkness exploded in a flash of light sending him backwards. Dagger's light powers protected her from his dark powers. He touched his wound with his right hand healing himself. He decided he would have to take out this woman the old fashion way, without powers.

Dr. Gamma refused to fight. He wanted to hide. The fighting scared him a little. He sat there whimpering as Rage pounded on him. Nocturne ran to his side after teleporting Hindsight Lad to a jail cell. Just as she got near them, Rage backhanded her sending her flying through the air.

"Doggie, no! You hurt my doggie," Dr. Gamma said growing angry.

Muscles grew and expanded as Dr. Gamma engaged Rage blow for blow. Being super charged, Rage was able to hold his own against the powerhouse hulk. As they crashed from building to building, they fought a stalemate match. It was clear, the winner would be the one to tire first, but whom it would be was not yet determined.

Wildstreak charged at Power Pack. Just as she threw a hard punch, Power Pack called forth her powers and shrunk down to a few inches. Wildstreak's punch went wild and she lost her balance. Power Pack grew back to normal and ran at the woman. Wildstreak turned around in time to see Alexis' fist hit her in the chest. At impact, g-force shifted as Power Pack's fist became strong and Wildstreak's body became light sending her flying off the top of the roof. Alexis knew the woman's suit she wore would protect her from the fall but looked over the edge to confirm she was right. She was, so she turned to help her teammates.

Morph did his best to hold his own against Slapstick. Without his shape shifting powers he was having a hard time. He felt a shock as Bolt fired off waves of electricity at Phoenix. Jean was too busy holding up a tek-shield against the supercharged electricity of Bolt to go on the offensive. He had to help, so he tossed a rock at Bolt causing him to flinch.

That was all Jean needed. Her red eyes flared as she pushed out with her powers at Bolt. Bolt screamed as a powerful force grabbed him and his electricity. He could feel something more within the power holding him. Before he could release his blast he was thrown into Slapstick and Morph. The collision caused an electrical explosion of power. Morph came to with Bolt and Slapstick on top of him.

"I can't budge them," Morph said as he suddenly felt weird and then his body shifted and he was able to free himself. "I'll be. Seems Jean's powers mixed with Bolt's not only knocked him and Slapstick out cold, but seems to have jump started my powers again."

Jean flew up at Justice as Morph started doing a happy dance changing form several times. Justice lashed out with his powers. His tek-field met with Phoenix's tek-field. High in the sky their powers flared as they battled to overcome each other. With Justice's supercharged powers, he almost had the advantage over Phoenix. Jean felt a force within her flare.

Suddenly her tek-field burst into flame and seized Justice. Jean's eyes flared red with power as Justice tried to use all his power to keep from being crushed to death by the fiery hold of the Phoenix. The harder Jean pushed the more the force field around the state began to flicker. He was beginning to weaken. It wouldn't be long before his powers gave and she would crush him.

"She's going to kill him. We have to stop her. Switch opponents," Blink shouted.

Power Pack flew up behind Rage and hit him with her g-force punch sending him blocks away. She then picked up a large rock and handed it to Dr. Gamma. She told him that they were playing tag and if he hit the glowing lady with dark hair she would be it. Gamma, excited about playing tag launched the rock with great strength at Dagger.

Darklight was having difficulty taking Dagger down. Every time he hit her she got back up. Thanks to the super charge she healed fast and was quicker. He also knew that he was not at his peak because it was tough for him to get the thought of her being his mother out of his mind. He was about take another blow when a rock hit Dagger in the back sending her into the side of the building with great force.

Darklight ran over and saw she was badly injured and barely breathing. He knew it wasn't his mom, but he couldn't let her or anyone die. He placed his hand on her and called forth his powers. His light, combined with hers, caused her to heal and would live. Darklight then ran to where Blink was trying to fend off a fast Speedball. Darklight held out his hand and called forth his dark powers and shouted at Blink.

Taking the queue, Blink vanished from sight as a dark force covered the air and engulfed the speeding Speedball. The darkness stopped Robbie cold. Ty could feel the light drain within and knew it was time to pull back. As the darkness vanished, the shivering form of Speedball could be seen lying upon the ground. Ty was glad that he had stopped his opponent, but wondered if he should be concerned that he was able to project the darkness without having made contact with the body.

As Ty pondered his developing powers, Blink appeared by Phoenix and Justice. She could see that she was crushing him. The force field around the state had vanished. It wouldn't be long before the heroes and authorities of this world arrived. She had to do something quick.

"Jean, let him go, we've won," Blink shouted.

"Not yet. We still sit in this world. If I let him go, the field could go back up. I have to put a stop to him," Jean said as she could feel another familiar power tug at her mind.

"Not like this. Look at yourself, the Phoenix Force is growing within you again. The Exiles are not killers," Blink pleaded as she tried teleporting Jean away from Justice.

"I can't stop," Jean shouted as her powers flared deflecting Blink's javelins.

"I'll handle this," Nocturne said as she ran up next to Blink.

Before Blink could protest, Nocturne sent a Hex Blast from her head at Jean. Jean's powers deflected the blast, but the Hex Blast somehow caused the Phoenix Force to vanish form within Jean's tek powers. The frazzled Jean paused a little at the sudden damper of power. Nocturne then launched her large dog body off the roof and at Jean. When she got a few feet from her, Nocturne called on Lockjaw's powers and she and Jean vanished from sight.

Blink shouted as she saw Justice's body begin a descent to the ground below. Blink jumped off the roof and teleported herself next to Justice. She then used her powers to teleport them both safely to the ground. As she laid the body on the ground she could hear the sound of sirens. Enforcement was almost here. She looked down and saw Vance begin to stir. She quickly landed him a punch hard enough to send him into dreamland.

"Did we do it?" Nocturne asked as she and a weak and annoyed Jean reappeared.

"I think so," Blink smiled as the familiar white light began to take her team to their next mission.

_**Epilogue**_

Bolt sat up as he regained consciousness. He was sure we would be sitting in a jail cell but found himself sitting in a room made of white fire. He stood up real fast and looked around and saw a blurry figure moving towards him. He tried to call forth his powers but they would not work. Soon the figure was close enough for him to hear but not see it.

"Who are you and where am I?" Bolt shouted.

"You are in a pocket of time created by my powers where no one or thing can detect us. My powers gave me the impression that in the very near future you will die. I have taken you from your reality and placed you here. Due to the circumstances and me taking you at this moment, you will not be missed and it will not affect your reality. So, Chris you have a choice to make," the figure said.

"What's that?" Bolt asked.

"Return to your reality and die or agree to serve me and stay here till I need you and get a taste of power nothing like what Justice could give you," the figure said as Bolt began to feel the power touch him.

"Yes, I'll join you," Chris drooled as the power engulfed him.

**Next: Issue #11 – Weapon X**


	12. Weapon X

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #11 – Weapon X**

_**The Time Brokerage**_

"So how does this work? I get my pick of people from across the realities?" Creed said walking over to what appeared to be a computer monitor of sorts.

"No, that would be too risky to try and pull from existing realities," the Timebroker said.

"Then how am I suppose to put together a team?" Creed said snarling.

"You'll have access to anyone in the crystals from the Exiles and Weapon X teams. Sine they have already been removed from reality it is the safest method," the Timebroker said punching a series of buttons on the console and then stepping aside.

"Well, I suppose I have to make do with what I got. Let's see what we got," Creed said stepping up to the computer monitor and selecting Weapon X.

The monitor blinked and then a list of names and pictures displayed along with member Stasis. Creed noticed that it listed everyone that had ever been a member of Weapon X. He quickly scrolled down the names.

_**WEAPON X RECRUITS**_

**_Sabretooth, Victor Creed of Earth-295– Crystal Empty – Alive - At Time Brokerage _**

**_Kane, Garrison Kane of Earth-3031 – In Stasis – Killed by Namor – remains returned home_**

_**Deadpool, Wade Wilson of Earth-2007 – Crystal Empty – Alive – W/Hyperion of Earth-4023-Location unknown**_

_**Mesmero, Vincent of Earth-653 – Crystal Empty – Killed on mission – remains returned home**_

_**Wolverine, Logan of Earth-172 – In Stasis – Killed on mission – Healing factor has regenerated him**_

_**Maverick, Chris North of Earth-1287 – In Stasis – Killed by Captain America – Deceased w/ no chance of revival**_

_**Daredevil, Mat Murdock of Earth-181 – Crystal Empty – Alive – W/Hyperion of Earth-4020-Location unknown**_

_**Hulk I, Jen Walters of Earth-7002 – In Stasis – Was sucked into Negative Zone – Alive in chamber**_

_**Storm, Ororo Munroe of Earth-23895 – In Stasis – Mortally wounded – Near death w/10 chance of living**_

_**Spider, Pete Parker of Earth-15 – Crystal Empty – Alive – W/Hyperion of Earth-4023-Location unknown**_

_**Vision of Earth-10101 – In Stasis – Deactivated – Could be rebuilt and brought back online.**_

Creed paused before moving on to the last half of names. With Vision, the first half were all members he had worked with side by side on various missions. He found it disturbing to be reminded what had happened to some and learning the fate of the others. He knew a few he could use but unfortunately there were some that he knew had their fates sealed. He sighed and then quickly looked at the rest of the list.

**_Iron Man, Tony Stark of Earth-2020 – Crystal Empty – Alive – W/Hyperion of Earth-4023-Location unknown_**

_**Gambit, Remy LeBeau of Earth-371 – Crystal Empty – Killed on mission – Remains returned home**_

_**Archangel, Warren Worthington of Earth-714 – Crystal Empty – Alive – Sent home**_

_**Colossus, Piotr Rasputin of Earth-1917 – In Stasis – Died in vacuum of space – Deceased w/ no chance of revival**_

**_Ms Marvel, Carol Danvers of Earth-4732 – Crystal Empty - Alive – W/Hyperion of Earth-4023-Location unknown_**

_**Hyperion, Mark Milton of Earth-4023 – Crystal Empty – Alive – On the run – Location unknown**_

_**Hulk II, Robert Banner of Earth-873 – In Stasis – Killed by Hyperion – Deceased w/ no chance of revival **_

_**Firestar, Angelica Jones of Earth-3565- In Stasis – Incinerated by her own power – Healed by secondary mutation**_

"Okay, release Wolverine. He's feral and lethal but he'll listen to me. Also release Hulk I and Vision. If I remember correctly it won't take Vision long with your help to rebuild himself. What about Storm, do you have medical assistance here?" Creed asked.

"I'm sorry Mr. Creed, but we can't assist in that manor. It would be violating our rules. Since Vision has already brought himself back online, we can look the other way as he uses parts around us to rebuild himself. Sorry, rules are rules," Timebroker said as three of the Weapon X members were released from their crystals.

"Then she will have to stay in stasis. Don't worry, I'll find a way to come back with a healer and save you," Creed snarled. "Looks like the only other one available is Firestar, release her."

"You still need three more for your team. Would you like to use any from the Exiles?" Timebroker said as he directed a team of men in white to usher the four newly revived Weapon X members to a debriefing room.

"Not sure how that'll go, but knowing them they'll help a cause to fight evil," Creed said pulling up the Exiles list.

**_EXILES RECRUITS_**

_**Blink, Clarice Ferguson of Earth-295 – Leader of current team – On mission to Earth 68524**_

_**Nocturne, T.J. Wagnor of Earth-9859 – On current team – On Mission to Earth 68524**_

_**Morph, Kevin Sidney of Earth-58163 – On current team – On Mission to Earth 68524**_

_**Thunderbird, John Proudstar of Earth-6672 – In Stasis – Injured on mission – Just out of coma**_

_**Mimic, Calvin Rankin of Earth-12 – Crystal Empty – Alive – Classified**_

_**Magnus, Magnus Lehnsherr of Earth-27 – In Stasis – Killed on mission – Powers saved him and discovered alive in stasis**_

_**Sunfire, Mariko Yashida of Earth-100 – Killed by Mimic – Mutant gene had slowed effect of Vamp bite-Undead**_

_**Sasquatch, Heather Hudson of Earth-3470 – Crystal Empty - Killed by X-M – Due to nature has revived**_

_**Magik, Illyana Rasputin of Earth-4210 – Crystal Empty – Killed by Hyperion – Remains returned home**_

_**Namora, Namora McKenzie of Earth-2189 – In Stasis – Killed by X-M – Deceased w/ no chance of revival**_

_**Beak, Barnell Bohusk of Earth-616 – Crystal Empty – Alive – Sent home**_

_**BattleStar, Lamar Hoskins of Earth-732 – In Stasis – Mortally wounded – Near death w/5 chance of living**_

_**IceyLink of Earth-8266 – In Stasis – Destroyed on mission – Cracked chip unable to be repaired **_

_**WizKid, Takashi Matsuya of Earth-616 – Mortally wounded – Near death w/30 chance of living**_

_**Dr. Gamma, Leonard banner of Earth-7289 – On currant team – On Mission to Earth 68524**_

_**Phoenix, Jean Howlett of Earth-116TQ – On currant team – On Mission to Earth 68524**_

_**Power Pack, Alexis Power of Earth-65 – On current team – On Mission to Earth 68524**_

_**Darklight, Ty Bowen f Earth-1098 – On currant team – On Mission to Earth 68524**_

"We don't have much time, please make your final three selections," the Timebroker said.

"Really not a lot to choose from. I'll take Thunderbird, Magnus and Sasquatch. I don't want to deal with a vampire and the whole sun issue. It would weaken the team," Creed said as the three Exiles were released.

"Great, Weapon X has been reformed. If you'll head into that room over there your new team will be briefed on your first mission before you go after Hyperion," Timebroker said as Creed followed after his new team.

_**Earth-68524**_

"Are you sure about this?" Nocturne barked as the Exiles stood on the outskirts of Castle Moondragon.

"Trust me, my powers will shield us from Moondragon's detection," Phoenix said as a faint fiery psi-shield could be seen around them.

"We have no choice but to do this. We have to get into that castle and destroy her gem before she is strong enough to take over the world," Blink said looking down at the Tallus.

On this Earth, the heroes defeated Thanos and the infinity guantlet but had decided to send the gems deep into the heart of the sun so no one would ever harness their powers again. Moondragon, using her mind power led everyone to believe the mind gem had been sent along with the other gems even though she actually held it in her fist. When all heroes had departed, she convinced her father Drax to follow her and she headed to Earth.

She arrived in Latvia and forced Drax to kill Doom. She quickly took over Doom's country and renamed the castle after herself. A day before the Exiles had arrived Moondragon had finally been able to bind the gem to her forehead. This increased her powers. She soon took over her neighboring countries as her power grew. She was starting to become one with the Mind Gem.

Right now, the gem and Moondragon are vulnerable as they go through the bonding process. If the Exiles do not remove and destroy the gem within twenty-four hours the binding will be complete and there will be no stopping Moondragon from becoming all-powerful. If that happens she will then move to take over the world and result in destroying it.

"Can we go over the plan one more time?" Alexis asked getting a tad excited.

"Phoenix will shield our presence as Nocturne teleports us into the castle. One inside, Alexis, you and Ty will handle any surrounding guards while Phoenix finds Moondragon and Nocturne will take us directly to her location. Once there, Morph and Dr. Gamma will occupy Drax while Phoenix engages Moondragon.

"Once she is able to weaken the bond between Moondragon and the gem, I'll use my powers to teleport the two away from each other. Jean will then throw a tek-shield around Nocturne and me as she takes us as close to the sun as she can. There, I will teleport the gem into the sun and then Nocturne will bring us back," Blink recapped.

"Remember, my shield will only last about two seconds," Jean said.

"Yes, but that should be more than enough time to get the job done," Blink said hoping she wasn't placing too much trust in this woman.

Blink signaled as they teleported into the castle. A few guards discovered them and Darklight and Power Pack went into action. While powers flew, Nocturne received the coordinates from Phoenix and they soon found themselves in the throne room facing a shocked Moondragon.

"Drax, kill them. They want to kill me," Moondragon screamed as she felt the power from Jean.

"No one hurt my baby," Drax roared as he ran towards them with great force.

"Leonard, the green guy wants to play wrestling. Let's get him," Morph said taking the shape of Hulk Hogan.

Drax and Dr. Gamma's impact caused the room to shake. Morph jumped in to lend Gamma a hand in distracting Drax. Phoenix wasted no time as her mind clashed with Moondragon's mind and gem. Just watching the two Blink knew Jean was becoming more powerful than she has been letting on. This would be something she would have to watch and address at a later date. Blink for now, waited for her opening.

"You will not stop me," Moondragon said as a blast sent Phoenix back against a wall.

"Greater than you have tried and failed," Jean said as a secondary power kicked in.

Faint wings of fire took Jean into the air. A fiery blast left her mind and hit Moondragon with great force. The mind gem kicked in and tried to hold its own. Blue cosmic fought against red fire. Both women were dripping with sweat as they each tried to gain the upper hand. Jean pushed with a draining force and she felt the gem part slightly from the woman's forehead.

"Now!" Screamed Jean.

The next set of actions happened within a heartbeat. Blink's javelins caused Moondragon to vanish into another room as the gem landed near Blink. Nocturne invoked her powers and Blink bent over to pick up the gem and they were gone from sight. Two seconds later, they were back minus one gem. Drax screamed out for his daughter and threw Dr. Gamma and Morph aside.

"Nocturne, get us out of here," Blink shouted as Drax was almost upon them.

"No fear," Phoenix whispered as a force of fiery tek-power hit Drax and sent him through the castle wall.

Blink glared at Jean as the Phoenix welding woman dropped to one knee, weak and expended. Just as Power Pack and Darklight entered the room no worse for wear the white light started to take them as they headed towards their next mission.

**_Another Alternate Earth_**

"I still don't like the idea working on the same team as them," Heather Hudson, the ex-Exile said.

"Neither do I, but there is a great evil we have to help take down. If the price for a second chance at life and returning home is to help them then it is well worth it," Magnus said.

"Okay team, here's the Baxter Building. Inside we will find the Ultimate Nullifier," Creed said.

After a long briefing, which most of it was convincing the Exiles ands the Weapon X members that they now needed to work together, they headed on their first mission. On this reality, Reed Richards had developed a device he called the Ultimate Nullifier. It draws the power and life energy from its user to charge up and fire. One blast, hitting its victim, renders them weaker than a baby for five minutes no mater how powerful you may be. They say, even God would become powerless.

On this Earth it had served its purpose but now it was okay to remove from this reality before it caused problems. They had to get past the Fantastic Force and to the lab. Once it was in one of their hands they would be pulled back to the Time Brokerage. Since the severity of the mission, they didn't have to worry about casualties. They just had to get the weapon.

"Vision, let us in," Creed said.

Vision changed his density and passed through the walls. In a few minutes the security went off line and the doors opened up. They all charged in and headed for the lab coordinates. After a few minutes their path was blocked by part of the Fantastic Force. Thing, She-Hulk, Lija, She-Thing and Human Torch came charging at them. Creed had already formed a plan in his mind in a matter of seconds.

"Sasquatch, Thunderbird, Firestar, Hulk and Wolverine, make short work of them," Creed shouted.

The powerhouses collided as Creed, Vision and Magnus slipped past them and headed to the lab. Creed didn't have to worry about his team. Even if the others held back, Wolverine was feral enough to get the job done. He would be surprised if any of the Fantastic Five survived their encounter. Creed wasn't all about the kill, but they had to do what they had to do to get the job done.

"Argh," Magnus grunted as he was sent back into a wall and pinning him there.

"Magnus is trapped but I don't see our adversary," Vision said.

"Oh, but I can smell her. Must be the Invisible Woman. We have to take her quickly," Creed shouted.

"You two go on. I can handle her," Magnus said smiling as Creed and Vision ran on into the lab.

"You think you can handle me?" Sue said making herself visible but tightening her hold on Magnus.

"You see, I can control force fields," Magnus said as power crackled around his hands.

Suddenly the force field holding him loosened a little and whipped Sue towards him like a slingshot. Sue hit Magnus and they both fell to the ground. Sue quickly sat on top of him and used her powers to cause a field around his head suffocating him while another force held his arms. As she smiled Magnus smiled more.

"You smile as you lose your air?" Sue asked.

Magnus, remaining calm, willed the gloves to shift and vanish from his hands exposing his flesh. He then sent an energy blast knocking Sue off balance enough for her to release her hold. Knowing hesitating would allow her to get up another field he quickly touched his fingers to her check. In an instant, Sue Richards the Invisible Woman became a woman of steel.

"I always smile when I hold the winning hand," Magnus said as he pushed aside the steel body of Sue.

Magnus walked into the lab to see Creed wrestling with Reed Richards as the Vision, intangible, easily made his way to a device on a table. Reed thinking he was winning by holding Creed tight was shocked when he looked over to see a robot phase through all his defenses and reach the devise. Vision turned solid and picked up the Ultimate Nullifier. At that moment, the world went white as all eight members of Weapon X vanished from sight.

**_Time Brokerage_**

"They're gone. You can come out now, Calvin," the Timebroker said.

The former leader of the Exiles walked out of a hidden room and looked at the man in white. He had not been thrilled about being sent home and then yanked back so soon, but he knew what was needed. Something was causing "white-outs" from time to time and they could not figure out who was doing it and what realities had people stolen without a trace. So far, four or five had vanished. Whoever was doing this needed to be found and stopped from what ever they were planning.

The Timebroker had brought him back to lead a new team called the X-Terminators. He would lead a seven-person team, eight counting himself. Because of the nature of Creed's mission, he got first pick of the remaining team members. While Creed picked, Mimic tested out his reality jumper and went to a world where it was ruled by two very powerful mutants named Healer and Dagger and their child.

Mimic could only hold five mutant powers. From that world he took two healing powers and the child's self-healing powers. He hated having three powers so similar, but the need for healing was important. He still had Cyclops's eye blasts and Colossus's steel and strength. Now it was time to get his team finalized and finish this last mission and go home for good.

"You know there are only five left to choose from but I don't think that they will be of much help," Time Broker said.

"That's where you're wrong," Mimic said as he prepared the first five members of his team.

His powers were more than enough to fully heal WizKid, BattleStar and Storm. With Storm, it left him quite weak but he had done it. With a little coaching from WizKid's power they were able to repair the crack in the chip and then bring IceyLink back online. Sunfire stepped out as Calvin tried to make eye contact.

"I'm so sorry," Calvin said with tears.

"It wasn't your fault. I don't hold a grudge, plus look, I'm still alive," Sunfire said.

"I don't know how," Mimic said.

Sunfire explained how her mutant gene slowed down the vampire transition. It appeared she had died but then she came back as one of the undead. Sunfire also discovered, to Creed's error, she was not affected by the sunlight. Since her mutant power was sun related it had somehow made her immune to the sun's deathly rays that normally kill vampires. She did keep to herself that she did hunger for the thirst.

"Great, now while the rest of you get ready for your mission, Calvin will come with me and select two members from other team holding crystals to complete the X-Terminators," the Time Broker said as he lead Calvin to another area of the Time Brokerage.

_**Epilogue**_

"I want out of here," Drax shouted from within a fiery white room.

"Father, don't panic. I knew I was going to lose but I was offered a greater deal for power by giving up the gem," Moondragon said.

"Heather? You alive?" Drax smiled.

"Yes, come with me. I want you to meet our new best friend and leader," Moondragon said calming her father and leading him to a fiery white figure.

**Next: Issue #12 – Sinister Squads – Part One**


	13. Sinister Squads Part One

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #12 – Sinister Squads – Part One**

_**The Time Brokerage**_

Calvin and the Timebroker came back into the meeting room. Sitting there waiting for him were five members that he was able to pull from stasis. Three of them had joined after he had left the team. WizKid was from Earth-616 and was an unofficial member of the Exiles. IceyLink was an advanced holographic A.I. from Earth-8266. BattleStar was a super soldier from Earth-732. The last two he did know from his time on the Exiles. Sunfire from Earth-100, who he had thought he had killed and Storm from Earth-23895 who he had known from the other time hopping team, Weapon-X.

Calvin knew that he had taken who was left but he knew he had a potentially great team in front of him. He had needed two more members to fill his roster but there was no one left for him to take. So the Time Broker had allowed him to choose two final members from other stasis crystals from other time hoping teams. It had taken him a long time to scroll through and find two members that were in great condition and a good fit for his team, but he had made his choices.

Time Broker stepped aside allowing the final two members to walk into the room and for Mimic to introduce them to the team. The first of the two was Jake Gallows the man known as Punisher from Earth of 2099 was an ex-officer whose family had been murdered. He wore armor that was blue with red knee, elbow and shoulder pads. The middle of his armor looked like a skull. It was clear he was packing some serious hardware. He glanced at everyone, nodded and began checking his guns as the last of their team entered.

In walked an average built man wearing a red sleeveless spandex costume with black boots, gloves and the letter T on his chest. A red mask covered his head only exposing his face and blond hair on the very top. Around his waist and sleeve line were dark gold belt like bands. In his right hand was an odd looking hammer. He was introduced as Henry Pym the hero known as Thor from Earth-5000.

On his Earth Henry invented two kinds of Pym Particles. One allowed a person to run fast while the other increases strength and resistance. Only one could be used at a time. He also created an Uru hammer out of technology that generated lightening-like bolts and allowed temporary flight. In honor of his favorite childhood character he took the name Thor. On his Earth he fought with a team called the Avengers until he was pulled from his reality.

Timebroker told everyone about their mission. Their job was to find and take out the individual or individuals that were causing white outs in realities. The Time Brokerage would like for them to take the person or persons into custody alive, but they must do what is necessary to take them out. He thanked them and warned them that someone with this kind of power was considered very dangerous.

"Okay, team, for us to succeed we must work together and follow my orders. I know we can do this and for this mission we will be known as the X-Terminators," Mimic said as he prepped his new team.

"Time to go," Timebroker said as a light signaled on Mimics wrist indicating another white out was occurring.

Mimic touched a few buttons n his wrist band and the X-Terminators vanished from site.

_**Alternate Earth- Weapon-X**_

"Everyone, be on your toes," Sabretooth said as Weapon-X appeared from thin air.

"This is getting old. They are hopping too fast. This is the seventh reality that we have landed on and found nothing," Firestar said.

"No, I can smell him," Wolverine said as Creed sniffed the air and agreed.

"Vision, now," Creed shouted.

Vision pulled out the Ultimate Nullifier and used is powers to discharge it. A pulse went out draining the devise and Vision. It would take thirty minutes to recharge before they could use it on Hyperion, but with the pulse it would disable his and their ability to reality hop. They new they had to find Hyperion quickly and buy time till the Ultimate Nullifier was ready to be used.

"Now you've really made me angry," Hyperion said from atop a rooftop as he realized he couldn't reality hop.

"Give up now, Hyperion. You can't win. We're Weapon-X and you're going down," Hulk shouted.

"Oh you think? Let me introduce you to my team, the Squadron Sinister," Hyperion said as seven figures stepped up next to him.

Most of them recognized five of the members as former Weapon-X members. Peter Parker who was bonded to Carnage was called Spider. In one of the realities they had hopped to he had received the ability to bounce and move real fast instead of Robert Baldwin. He was bouncing back and forth with speed till Hyperion grabbed him and stopped him. It seemed that Hyperion had taken the liberty of upgrading his team on their quest through realities.

Ms Marvel looked the same except for a metal devise on her head. In one reality she had ripped it form a man named Bishop and placed it upon herself. Now she could absorb energy and discharge it giving off even more powerful blasts than before. Next to her was Deadpool and he looked no different than before. What they did not know was that on one reality were Sinister was performing experiments on test subjects labeled Gen X, Wade was induced with the DNA of Everett Thomas. Now he could synch with others powers. This made him deadlier.

The Kingpin's former assassin, Daredevil stood on the other side of Hyperion. In one hand he holds his baton but in the other hand he holds the Shadowlance he took from Blackwulf when he killed him. Next to him is Iron-Man from Earth-2020. His armor was now glowing a fiery blue. On another reality he had absorbed a portion of the hellfire energy from a demon called Zarathos. The last two members were brand new taken from other realities.

The first was what appeared to be female Iron-Man but the armor was grey and white and seemed to glow green. Her name was Erica Rhodes, the daughter of Jen Walters and James Rhodes. After watching her parents killed by a super hero war she vowed revenge on all super heroes. She combined her father's work on armor tech and her mom's studies on gamma power and created a gamma powered super battle armor. She took on the name Thunderstrike and began hunting heroes.

The last member was a man by the name of Dane Whitman. Possessed by an evil sword and his mutant powers over magnetism he took the name Vendetta and struck out to take over the world. He wears no costume, just a pair of jeans and a tight fitting t-shirt. His sword and his powers are all he needs in his quest. Vendetta stairs down below as he holds his sword up high.

"So how much longer before the Nullifier is ready?" Heather Hudson asked nervously.

"Twenty-eight minutes," Creed said with no fear in his voice.

"Kill them!" Hyperion shouted as he sat back and smiled as his Squadron headed down to towards Weapon-X.

Wolverine stood stir growling with anger as Spider bounced around him at super speed slicing him with his Carnage bonded skin. She-Hulk yelled as she was thrown back by a super powered blast form Ms Marvel. Deadpool growled as he synched with Creed's powers and engaged in savage battle. Vision became intangible and made is way up behind Hyperion. Daredevil came up fast behind Firestar and hit her hard in the back with his baton sending her to the ground. He then prepared to use his Shadowlance.

Thunderbird laughed at the man in armor until the Zarathos powered Iron-Man hit him with a blast that sent him flying through a building. Just as fast, Thundersrike did the same to Magnus with a gamma powered blast form her armor. Sasquatch didn't make it two feet when Vendetta used his magnetic powers to sandwich her between two cars. Hyperion laughed as he saw his team get the immediate upper hand in the first strike.

_**Alternate Earth – Exiles**_

"Of all the Earth's we land on we have to land on one like this," Nocturne barked.

This time the Exiles had found themselves on a world where Dr. Banner had accidentally set off a mega gamma bomb. The radiation wave was so huge that it had contaminated everyone living in all the western states. Every man, woman and child had mutated into a Hulk-like creature. Mass destruction followed immediately but that wasn't the worst of it. Any one bitten or scratched by a Hulk was contaminated and transformed themselves into a mad green creature. As of now, there were very few humans left in the world, including Dr. Banner, who they had to find and convince to create an anti-gamma bomb to revert everyone back.

"Weather we like it or not it's just us. Because of when this bomb went off there was never a chance for super heroes or villains to be created," Blink said as she caused a few more Hulks to vanish from sight.

"They're not so tough," Morph laughed as he morphs into a weak looking Hulk.

"Whatever you say, Morph. Just don't let those things bit you," Power Pack said as she uses her powers to punch a Hulk high into the air.

"Any luck in locating Banner?" Darklight asked as he tried to dodge a massive Hulk-looking grandma.

"Not yet. As much as you all seem to think, I haven't developed stronger powers. It's still taxing to do this level of mind scanning," Phoenix said as she mentally grabbed a few Hulks from around Darklight and sending them miles away.

Darklight nodded thanks and held out his hand. Calling forth his powers a dark cloud began to form around his left hand and then expand. Even when the Hulk's screams vanished within the darkness, Darklight could still feel them. The Hulk was feed him a lot of energy and it scared him how much he was enjoying it. Darklight shut his powers down and saw a winded Hulk gaining is strength back quickly. It appeared it took a lot more than his dark powers to stop them.

"We're not going to last much longer. There's just too many of them," Power Pack said landing beside Darklight.

"Maybe we can help," a voice said from above them.

They all turned to see seven figures standing on top of the hill. Blink had to shake her head to make sure she was seeing what she was seeing. Among the few she didn't know she clearly made out the others.

"Mariko? Lamar?" Blink asked blinking twice at seeing them not only here but alive.

"Hey there. Miss me?" BattleStar asked with a smile.

"I can't believe it. How?" Blink asked again.

"I'll explain that, but first let's finish off these Hulks," an eighth figure said stepping form behind the others.

"Cal?" Nocturne barked.

"Wow, I leave for a bit and things go to the dogs," Mimic laughed as Nocturne growls at him.

"I can't believe it," Blink said as she looked from Lamar to Calvin.

"We'll explain in a bit. X-Terminators, attack!" Mimic shouts as his team goes into action.

Mimic becomes steel as he punches Hulks with his fist and blasts them with his optic blasts. WizKid bulks up is suit of armor to a Hulk-Buster armor and trades blows. IceyLink creates holographs to confuse them into hitting each other. BattleStar uses his strength as Sunfire let's lose her fire. Storm and Thor both let loose lightening upon a bunch of charging Hulks. Punisher, arming himself with his guns opens fire with crippling shots. He would shoot to kill, but Mimic has made it clear about intentional killing. With the combined powers of the Exiles the Hulks are taken out and teleported away in a matter of moments.

"I can't believe you're alive," Nocturne said to Sunfire, sniffing back the tears.

"I can't believe you're a dog," Sunfire laughed.

Blink was going through the most, seeing both Mimic again and finding BattleStar alive. She had loved Calvin, but when he left and after going through what she had gone through with BattleStar she had developed feelings for him right before he had been killed. Or so she thought. She sighed as she recapped to the X-Terminators all that they had been through.

"So the device brought us to this world here," Calvin said as he told them about their mission and how they all had come to be here and others to be alive.

"So what do you do now," Blink said fearing that Cal and his team would be leaving them again.

"I don't know. We," Cal started to say and then paused looking at his device on his arm.

"What is it?" Blink asked confused at the way he was looking at her.

"According to this, the person we're looking for is among your team," Calvin said.

"What are you saying," Nocturne barked.

"For the sake of the universe, I'm going to have to ask you and your team to come with us," Calvin said.

"We're not going anywhere with you," Darklight said eyeing them.

"Hold on, I don't want to cause a fight. I think it's best we all," Mimic began as his team looked at him nervously. He wasn't the only one with old friends on the Exiles team.

"You think my team consists of evil?" Blink said suddenly getting defensive.

"Clarice, we don't have time to discuss this. My Tallus can't tell who it is but it is saying we must take you all back before it's too late," Mimic said

"I can't let you do this," Blink began to say.

"You won't have to. My hand has been forced but I'm ready," Phoenix said as she steps forward surrounded in a fiery white flame as the Phoenix Force comes to life.

"Phoenix?" Most of the Exiles question in surprise.

Phoenix waves her hand as the Phoenix Force reaches out and grabs IceyLink. In an explosion of fiery white power IceyLink is no more. Phoenix then points to the sky and a fiery white portal opens wide.

"IceyLink's death has given me the power to open the portal to let my friends through. Together, with the death of you thirteen we will rip a portal open that will take us directly to the Time Brokerage. Exiles, X-Terminators meet your death, the Phoenix Elite," Jean Howlett laughed as seven figures came through the portal, all glowing with fiery white power.

**Next: Issue #13 – Sinister Squads – Part Two**


	14. Sinister Squads Part Two

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #13 – Sinister Squads – Part Two**

_**Alternate Earth – Exiles & X-Terminators **_

Blink, Mimic and the rest of their teams were held in a moment of shock at what had just happened. After a surprising reunion between the members of both teams, they learned that Mimic and his team were there to track and bring in who ever was causing great trouble with realities. It seemed _that _someone was a member of the Exiles and they had to all be taken in. Before Blink could protest, she had revealed herself.

Phoenix was the being responsible for acts so evil that the Time Broker wanted her stopped. Blink had always held a suspicion she was hiding something and concealing her powers, but she wanted to believe the best in her. Especially after what they had all been through during Time Quake and Jean sacrificing herself and then getting a second chance on life, why would she go all evil. At first she thought Mimic was wrong and was ready to defend her teammate till Jean made her next move.

In an instant Phoenix had used her powers to obliterate IceyLink and taking the energy from his death and convert it into a portal. Any doubt about Jean's innocence was removed once she killed IceyLink and made the same threat for all of them. Blink knew they had the numbers to take her but out of her portal came her Phoenix Elite. Now it would be trouble.

From what they had learned in their time during Time Quake was that Jean possessed a power called the Phoenix Force. This force was only as strong as number in it's collective. Jean somehow bonded herself with others through this force. Changing them and making them more powerful as a whole. When she was bonded with seven the Phoenix Force became complete and very powerful. Which they faced now was Jean and her seven bonded souls, the Phoenix Elite.

The thing that troubled Blink and the rest of the Exiles was that as each member of the Elite stepped through they recognized them or felt familiar with them. It was clear to them that these individuals had come form the different realities they had been to. It was clear now what Phoenix had done.

"Clarice, are you seeing who I'm seeing?" Nocturne barked.

"You know these Elite?" Mimic asked.

"Yes and no. We have seen or encountered each of them in our travels," Blink said staring at the group emerging from the portal.

"Jean must have taken them from those realities when we weren't looking," Darklight glared at the former teammate.

"That must be the white outs the Time Broker was talking about," Mimic said.

"She was tearing open a part of reality and able to hide it and them from the Timebrokers as she got stronger with each recruit," BattleStar said.

"And now that she has her seven her power is complete and very strong," Blink added.

"We saw what she was like. How can we stop the Phoenix Elite at full power and working the side of evil?" Nocturne barked looking up at the force standing behind their former Exile.

Jean Howlett smiled as she mentally looked at each of her Elite. Each of them held the same characteristics of anyone taken into the Phoenix bond. Fiery red streaks ran trough their hair while their eyes glowed red with fire. A Phoenix symbol burned over their right eyes. Each of their individual powers was enhanced with Phoenix Fire and they each had the gift of flight and a mental bond to communicate with ease.

To her right stood Bolt from Earth-9856. Like the others, he had chosen a second chance at life and joined the Phoenix Elite. Each of them knew that if they refused and stayed on their Earth they would be dead or in the very near future would die. The choice wasn't that hard. Not only do you get to live but you get a taste of unimaginable power. He looked over at Moondragon and her father Drax from Earth-68524. She as doing everything she could to hold her dad back from attacking.

They had been recruited right after him and he had formed a small friendship with the two. It made him feel better since he was unable to make friends with the others. When he had been recruited, three members had already been waiting. Since there had been a long gap between their recruitment and his they had formed a click and didn't seem to let anyone else in. They were more or less, the first recruited and the inner circle of the Elite to Jean.

The first one and Phoenix's right hand was Black Axe. In another reality he was born to Jean and Vance Astrovik. As a young child he had come home with his father and walked in on his mother having an affair with her high school boyfriend Scott. Consumed with jealously and rage Vance lashed out and accidentally killed his wife in front of Grey's eyes.

The sight of his mother dying, Grey's mutant powers manifested as a giant psionic axe formed and he sliced through his father's body. The power of the axe not only caused Vance's powers to short out but the force of the power dropped him to the ground in convulsion. Still with anger and the sight of the man who had caused this, Grey swung the axe through Scott dropping him to the ground as well. Grey, knowing there was no turning back now kissed his mother goodbye as he passed through the kitchen and then out the back door.

As he made it to the back fence the house erupted in an explosion of fire. Not able to move or use their powers, his mother's adulterer and his father were consumed by the fire as well as his mother's body and house. He then went into hiding and continued down the wrong path as he grew older and more in control of his powers. Soon he clad himself in purplish black psionic armor and became the evil mutant known as Black Axe.

In a sense, they were almost like mother and son and Phoenix had used that to establish their bond. It was easy to see why he had been recruited first and became her right hand man. They never called each other mom or son or even thought they were related like that, but you could see they formed a very protective bond with each other due to their other reality connections. Black Axe looked over his shoulder at the woman standing next to him.

Julia Carpenter the woman known as Cyclops looked at Black Axe and smiled back. She was toned and well fit. She wore a white and blue costume that had a red pulse design running across her chest. A face mask was worn covering her head and ending with a visor that covered her eyes. Only her nose and mouth were left exposed. She looked hot but deadly.

On her Earth Val Copper, Charles Xavier and Nathan Essex were part of a government branch in charge of creating genetically altered super humans to defend the United States from the growing threat of other countries and those out there developing powers. They needed their own secret force of super soldiers and Julia Carpenter was one of them.

She had been kidnapped and had been subjected with a serum created by Essex and Xavier. The serum genetically altered her body giving her the ability to grow to immense sizes. A side effect was that a powerful energy was releasing from her eyes and she couldn't stop or control it. They created a special visor for her and she was given the codename Cyclops since she shot a beam from her eyes and could become the size of a titan.

Unknown to Charles and the government, Val and Nathan were secretly part of another group called the Marauders. Their goal was create a team of powerful soldiers to help take over the world. When the project was complete, and the subjects tricked in to thinking Nathan was their savior from what the government did to them, Nathan and his Marauders stuck against the government and went on the run leaving Val and Charles dead in the crossfire and the government without its super soldiers.

The third of the inner circle did look like a super soldier. He was clad in a blue armor that covered his whole body tightly that it made him look like a robot. The man in the armor was known as Warpath. In his reality, Longshot had been captured by Apocalypse and genetically altered into one of his Horsemen. IN this reality En Sabah Nur named his creations a little differently calling him Warpath the Horseman of War. Cybernetic weapons and powers of luck made him a deadly threat.

The seventh and final member of the Elite had just been recruited not too long ago. She was still too new for Bolt or any of them to get to know her. She kept to herself a lot. She wore a purple armored outfit that covered everything but her face and arms. She had long dark hair and her skin was tanned color. If it weren't for her boxed jaw and pointed ears she would definitely pass as human. In her case, she was only half human with the other half being Skrull.

In her reality the Skrulls had invaded and declared war on the Earth. During this time, Nick Fury's wife was revealed to be a Skrull spy named Lyja. During a stand off between the two, she revealed that somehow she had become pregnant with his child. S.H.I.E.L.D. already had the Skrulls retreating so there was no where for Lyja to run. She expected him to kill her.

Instead, he offered her to stay and continue being his wife till their child was born. In anger she sucker punched him and made it to a ship evacuating the Earth. She then gave birth to Krystalin. Because of her human looking features, Lyja was exiled to another planet where she raised her child alone, telling her stories of her evil father and the evil beings of Earth.

Growing up knowing that her life was like this because of Nick Fury, she swore vengeance against the Earth. Once she got older she gathered an army and led a strike force against the Earth. She soon came face to face with her father, but he told her the truths. Out of anger at what she had to believe were lies, she ran off and then ran into Phoenix and was more than willing to escape.

"Jean, how can you do this? We're your teammates," Power Pack asked.

"My friends and world sacrificed themselves to save you and all your realities. Now that I've been given a second chance at life, I want to bring my world back and give it a second chance too," Jean said as she glowed with power.

"Maybe we can work something out together with the Time Brokers," Blink said.

"Too late, they've already denied me my request so I'm going to find them and make it happen," Jean said.

"I don't believe it," Nocturne barked.

"It's true. The Time Broker told me that it would be too great a risk. Not only could it start the Time Quake again but if that didn't happen the thirteenth ripple could be born and that would be very dangerous," Calvin said looking into Clarice's eyed.

"She wasn't the only one to sacrifice their life for greater good and you don't see me wanting revenge. She's become plain evil and must be stopped," BattleStar said stepping between Blink and Mimic.

"I'd love to see you try. Phoenix Elite, take them!" Phoenix shouted as they all took flight on fiery wings.

_**Alternate Earth- Weapon-X**_

Vision cringed as he saw the Squadron Sinister take round one with ease against his new team. As much as he wanted to jump in and help he knew he couldn't. He had to stay out of sight until the Ultimate Nullifier was at full power. Only then could he make himself known and use it against Hyperion to render him powerless. Only then did they have the chance to stop him and complete their mission. Until then Vision stood there and watched and hoped for the best.

Wolverine closed his eyes and tuned out the pain and cuts being dished out by Spider. To the outside eye it may look like he was done for, but in reality his healing factor was in overdrive and he was just biding his time. As Spider bounced all around in great speed, Logan let his nose and keen senses take over. Almost, almost, now! Logan popped his claws and slashed out.

"Ahh!" Spider screamed as he hit the ground.

"Not so fast now, bub?" Logan smirked as he saw the Carnage peel itself back reveling Peter underneath with a giant slash in his gut with blood everywhere.

Ms Marvel smiled at her new found power. It had really felt good to blast that green witch. Carol looked up at Hyperion and hoped he was impressed wither performance. He looked down at her and smiled as she could feel herself melt. He would take her as his bride and they would rule all realities together. Ms Marvel saw a look in his eyes and she turned back around to see what he was smirking at.

"Now you've gone and made me mad," Hulk said as she hit Carol with a gamma powered punch sending her flying and then smiling up at Hyperion.

"Wade, are you sure you want to do this?" Creed said grabbing Deadpool and slamming him into a car.

"Oh, yeah. I've wanted to take you out since the first day you bossed us around thinking you're some ultimate leader," Deadpool said.

"You may be think you can mimic me but there is only one, and that's me," Creed said as he ripped open Deadpool's stomach and throwing him to the ground and then moved towards Hyperion.

Firestar grunted from the pain and looked up to see Daredevil ready to plunge a lance into her. She knew she didn't have much time. Calling on what strength she had left she focused her power into one single beam. The beam hit the lance then engulfed her opponent and then propelled them both threw an office window. Firestar sighed and slowly got to her feet. It was time to do the right thing this time and take down Hyperion.

Thunderbird shook his head. It had been along time since he had felt such power used against him. His armor plates had protected him and now he wanted payback. With great speed and super enhanced strength he came up fast on Iron Man. Iron Man turned as he saw a fist covered in plating come right at him. In a split second, Tony's ears rang as the force of the impact sent him through a wall. Before he could get his bearings another punch sent him into darkness.

Magnus shook his head and got to his feet. His force field had protected him from her punch. He knew he had to put her down and fast. He flew towards her and called forth his powers. Thunderstrike soon found herself unable to move. Magnus was straining to hold her in place. Once he reached her he did something he swore he wouldn't do again. He used his power to tear open the armor on her hand and then he touched her with his finger tip. Magnus let out a deep breath and walked away from the steel statue.

Sasquatch roared with anger as she threw the cars off of her body. How could she take a man who had a sword and powers over metal? She looked over and saw a bunch of trees. She grabbed them and hurled them like spears at Vendetta. Dane knew his powers wouldn't work on the trees but his sword would do just fine. Standing his ground he sliced the trees with his sword sending them to either side of him. He smiled with victory and then gasped.

While distracted, Sasquatch moved with fierce speed and had reached him. Grabbing his own sword she forced it through his chest. Sasquatch, losing control of her beast grabbed Vendetta and tossed in atop the roof of a nearby building. Heather roared with victory and then felt the fear of letting herself lose control like this take over. Was she becoming more beast than human? Heather was afraid of the answer, but knew now wasn't the time. She had bigger things to worry about.

"Might was well give up now, Hyperion," Creed laughed as he looked up at his enemy and his team soon joined him.

"I've toyed with you long enough," Hyperion scowled down at Weapon-X.

"Vision?" Creed asked.

"Few minutes, boss," Vision's voice came from his ear piece.

"Not long, Weapon-X. Stand firm," Creed said swallowing hard as his team attacked.

Hyperion moved fast. As Logan leapt into the air, he was met by a powerful eye beam. When the beam vanished a pile of adamantium bones hit the ground. Hulk screamed at the sight of her fallen teammate. Before she could react, Hyperion had a hold of her. She felt both arms break under his grasp as he sent her flying into a parked bus. Hyperion smiled as he turned at his next opponent.

Sasquatch screamed in pain as she dropped to the ground. Hyperion had used his heat vision to fry her legs to the bone. She saw another blast come form her face as she began to pass out. Thunderbird's armored plating protected him as he moved between the eye beam and his fallen teammate. Thunderbird charged Hyperion and hit him with all he had. Hyperion laughed as he didn't even flinch.

Hyperion used his fingers and tore the armored plating right off Thunderbird. James screamed as Hyperion hit his unprotected chest with a powerful punch. James had felt his ribs crack before he hit the far building and blacked out. He would have been dead with that punch had it not been for the force field used by Magnus. Magnus then used his powers to hit Hyperion with an energy blast in conjunction with Firestar's blast.

Hyperion moved toward them with ease. Creed leaped at him and he back handed him to the side. Hyperion then reached the two members of Weapon-X. Creed got to his feet just as he heard a snap and watches a whole building come down on his two teammates. Anger grew inside of him,

"You'll die for that," Creed snarled.

"Oh, just like the rest of your team?" Hyperion laughed.

Hyperion hit Creed hard sending him to the ground. Creed could feel bones snap as punch after punch was thrown at him. Creed used every once of strength to fight the man but he knew his healing factor was being pushed to its limits. He had to hold on for just a little bit longer, even thought he could feel his body giving out.

"Had enough?" Hyperion asked.

"Never," Creed said spitting in his face.

Hyperion glared as he slammed Creed's face into the cement. He then picked Creed up by the throat, lifting him up into the air as he squeezed. Creed could feel the flow of air to his lungs diminishing as his neck began to give way. Soon he was held at eye level with the enemy.

"Any last requests?" Hyperion laughed as he tightened his grip.

_**Epilogue**_

"Such power," a small demon like creature said looking up at his powerful master.

"Yes, and with the ability to tear into realities. I have watched her since she first started with the white outs," the fiery master said.

"We could use her," the small creature said.

"Yes, and I have already contacted her. When the time comes, she will help me bring my storm," the evil master laughed.

**Next: Issue #14 – Sinister Squads – Part Three**


	15. Sinister Squads Part Three

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #14 – Sinister Squads – Part Three**

_**Alternate Earth – Exiles & X-Terminators VS Phoenix Elite**_

Blink looked over at Mimic. Moments ago she had learned that her one time love, Calvin Rankin and other Exile members were alive and back to hunt down someone who was causing problems with realities. Their happy reunion ended when they pointed the finger at her team and wanted to take all of them in. She was shocked and upset that he would treat her and his old team like that; especially after all they've been through. Her anger was quickly redirected and amplified when one of her own, Phoenix stepped forward proving Cal right.

While Blink and her Exiles were saving realities, Phoenix was causing white outs during their hops. She was finding individuals that were seconds for dieing or scheduled to die fairly soon and making them deals. For a second chance at life they had to join her collective, the Phoenix Elite. Sworn to serve her they were empowered with a piece of the Phoenix Force making them stronger and deadlier. These Elite was now attacking them with the mission to kill them all to gain the power to recreate Jean Howlett's world.

As much as Blink would live to see Jean have her reality back she couldn't allow it for three reasons. One, it could start another Timed Quake. Two, the thirteenth ripple could be reborn and according to the Time Broker that would be very bad. The third reason was the biggest of them all; she really didn't feel like having to die to make it happen. With one member, IceyLink killed, she and Cal didn't plan to lose anyone else. Together, their teams stand ready for the battle against the Phoenix Elite.

"You don't have to do this, Jean," BattleStar said.

"I don't see how you can side with them. They too left you to die," Phoenix said.

"They didn't leave me. They thought I was dead, until now and here I am," BattleStar said.

"Only because I forced them to pull you out, otherwise you'd still be rotting in a crystal. I know what they do and they must be destroyed. I will destroy them and all of you if that's what it takes to bring the world that they took from me back," Phoenix said as her power flared.

"No use talking to her. We need to get rid of her fast," Blink said throwing her javelins at the fiery woman.

"Won't be that easy, Clarice," Phoenix said putting up a fiery shield that dissolved the javelins upon impact.

Phoenix screamed as she waved her arms forward. Two fiery claws extended out and grabbed Blink. Blink screamed as she was consumed within the fire and then vanished as the fiery claws exploded vanishing along with her. BattleStar and Mimic screamed at the death of their friend and loved one. Mimic shifted to steel and leapt at Jean only to hit by a wave of Phoenix Fire. BattleStar held up his shield as he leapt over what was left of Mimic.

"How can you do this to your friends," BattleStar said propelling himself upwards behind his shield.

"My friends are dead because of your Exiles. Now your deaths will bring them back," Phoenix said as she took hold of his shield and ripped it in two with her mind and sent a shocked super soldier smashing through the cement street.

Nocturne whimpered as she saw three of her friends taken down. WizKid put a hand to her furry back to try and calm her. He felt her pain for he had known two of them and thought of them as friends. Nocturne shook WizKid off and started to make a run for Phoenix when a man in purplish-black armor holding a giant psionic axe blocked her path.

"Planning on 'porting her away? I can't allow that you stupid mutt," Black Axe smiled as he waved his axe.

Nocturne howled as the axe passed through her body. Her body burned with pain as the psionic axe's blade did what it was designed to do, rip through a persons mind and nervous system while leaving the body intact. Black Axe smiled as the giant dog flopped to the ground motionless. Black Axe laughed as Wiz Kid pulled material from all around him to make his body armor bigger and more powerful. Wiz was going to take him down.

"I'll make you pay for that," WizKid said as he sent off two powerful blasts from his armored hands.

Black Axe held up his hands as his axe vanished formed a tek shield around his body. The blast hit him and sent him to the ground but was unharmed due to his shield. WizKid flew at the down man but was surprised to find a purple axe come flying up and slicing through his armor. WizKid flew past the man out of control as he realized his powers were cut from his armor and it was falling apart. Takashi screamed in pain as his armor less body hit the side of a building and blacked out.

"Play dead, good dog," Black Axe said as he got up and glanced at the giant dog and then walked towards WizKid. Phoenix received the mental alert and pointed her finger at the giant dog. It was suddenly consumed and transformed into fiery energy and then absorbed into the Phoenix Force.

"Nice outfit," Morph smiled as he made himself wearing the same outfit as Cyclops.

Julia didn't find the freak funny. She called forth her powers and grew to the size of a building. In doing so she had built up a massive supply of power. She immediately released it out of her visor hitting Morph with great force. Cyclops looked down at the giant crater and millions of pieces of her opponent splattered everywhere.

"You killed my doggie and my friend," Dr. Gamma screamed as he glared at Cyclops and Black Axe.

Dr. Gamma sat their and cried at the site of his friends being killed. He was angry but the sadness was a stronger emotion and he just couldn't get himself into fighting. Dr. Gamma winced as he felt blasts hitting his body. He turned to see blue robot walking towards him. Dr. Gamma got up and faced the robot.

"Why you hurt me?" Dr. Gamma asked.

"Wow, this will be too easy," Warpath said as he called on his luck powers and sent a strange blast at the hulk-like man.

When the smoke cleared, Dr. Gamma was still standing there but was now more normal looking. He no longer looked like an oversized human hulk. He looked like he once did before the aftermath of the Time Quake. Warpath started moving towards the man with great momentum.

"Somehow I was lucky to neutralize your powers but not lucky enough to kill you. I'll fix that you mumbling idiot," Warpath said.

"Actually, not sure what happened but I've never felt clearer," Dr. Gamma said as he flexed his muscles and sent Warpath flying with one punch. "I may not be super strong like I was but I still seem to hold quite a punch."

Bolt saw Warpath go flying. Looked like the hulking idiot may have lost his super enhanced strength but he had gained his smarts back. He would have to lend a hand but he had to deal with this stupid girl first. He was looking forward to putting Power Pack down. It was payback time.

"I can keep this up all day," Power Pack said as she glowed absorbing the electricity being sent at her.

"Oh really? You forget, I'm empowered by the Phoenix Force," Bolt said as his eyes flared with fire.

The electricity suddenly became wrapped in fire. Even though the electricity couldn't harm her body the fire struck at her mind. Power Pack rolled on the ground screaming in pain as the fire burned at her mind and the electricity burned at her body if she switched off the absorbing powers. She was stuck, not matter what she did she was trapped in a world of pain.

"Alexis!" Darklight screamed as he ran in her direction.

"Dad, you take care of them. I'll make short work of this one," Moondragon said leaving her father's side and floating down in front of Darklight.

"I doubt that," Darklight said as he held out his hand.

A strange darkness left his hand and went straight for the bald headed woman. Darklight found it scary and invigorating that he no longer had to touch someone to make the darkness work. The woman was soon consumed within his darkness and he waited to feel the energy. He paused when he felt nothing but fire.

The darkness parted and vanished as a fiery mind blast left Moondragon's mind and headed right for him. There was nothing he could do, the fiery psi-blast hit him in the head and he dropped in pain. His mind was on fire and he knew in moments it would all be over. Moondragon laughed as she pored on the power. Darklight readied his final breath when the pain stopped and he looked up.

The clouds were dark and thunder roared. Moondragon's body laid on the ground as Storm hovered over her. Storm was sending lightening down from the skies and into the body of Moondragon. As the last bolt his Moondragon, they could all feel and hear Jean Howlett scream as she and her Phoenix Elite felt one of their own die.

"They're weakened. We have to move fast," Thor said activating his Pym Particles to give him strength.

Drax, doing as his daughter had said, was charging Thor and Punisher. Blasts from Punishers weapons were bouncing off of him as he neared Thor. Thor swung at him but was no match of his fiery covered fist. Drax hit the man with the hammer and sent him flying clear across the sky. He then turned and faced Punisher.

Jake kept pulling out the heavy arsenal but it didn't seem to stop the advancing green monster. Drax reached him and crushed his guns. Punisher gasped as Drax slammed his hands together crushing his skull. Drax stepped back as a fiery blast from Jean hit Punisher turning him into energy and absorbing him. Drax shrugged and looked for his daughter.

"Why are you doing this? You don't seem like the others," Sunfire asked as she sent blasts of fire at the woman in purple armor and pointed ears.

"I don't know. I'm so confused," Krystalin said shifting her skin to crystal form to deflect the fire.

She had been battling Sunfire and had found a strange connection to her. As they had battled she had revealed her origin. How she had attacked the Earth only to find her life was base don lies and only joined Phoenix as a means of escaping her pain. Now that the Elite had been weakened she could think more clearly. She didn't know what to do, should she help kill all these people or not?

"Krystalin, I know what it's like to be different and made to feel like an outcast. If you help us, you can atone for your misdeeds and maybe find a way home to your father," Sunfire said dodging crystal shards being thrown at her.

"Maybe you're right," Krystalin said taking Sunfire's hand.

"Renounce the Force," Sunfire said as she felt a strange hunger stir within her.

"Yes, I renounce the power of the Phoenix," Krystalin shouted as Jean screamed when she felt her connection and the Phoenix Force leave her.

"My Elite has been reduced. I don't have near the power I need. Elite to me," Phoenix said as Black Axe, Cyclops, Warpath, Bolt and Drax were pulled immediately to her side.

They stood floating in the air looking over their remaining opponents. Mimic and BattleStar stood ready thanks to Mimic's healing powers of three great healers. Calvin had regenerated and healed himself and then healed the injured BattleStar. He had then ran over and healed WizKid who quickly formed a powerful armor around himself. Morph, who was still slowly pulling himself back together staggered next to them.

After healing Power Pack, Dr. Gamma helped Darklight carry her over to the rest of the team. Thor, holding his hammer, landed next to the group as Sunfire and Krystalin came walking up. The Exiles and X-Terminators may have been bruised up and have lost three of their own, but they were ready to finish the Phoenix Elite.

"You won't win. Except your fates now," Phoenix said as she drew on the power of her five remaining Elite members.

"She's going to sacrifice her remaining Elite to give her the power to prevail and rise again. We have to stop her now," Krystalin said still being able to pick up faint thoughts from her former Elite.

"Too late," Jean laughed as a fiery force pushed all her enemies to the ground and held them there unable to move.

"There's no way we'll stop her in time," Mimic said trying to stand up and failing.

"Now my time has come," Phoenix said as she ignited her powers to start absorbing her elite and burn her enemies trapped below.

"Not on my watch," Blink appeared out of nowhere hitting Warpath and Drax with her javelins and teleporting them out of the power merge and to the street below.

"No!" Jean screamed as the sudden disconnect from the Elite fried Warpath and Drax's minds leaving them mindless vegetables.

"Blink, how?" Mimic asked with tears as Jean's power released them from her sudden power loss.

"I teleported at the last minute, but still a little weak," Blink smiled.

"There's no way you can stop me," Jean growled as she connected with Black Axe, Cyclops and Bolt and began to glow again.

"No, but I bet the center of the sun will," Blink said as she teleported behind the three and hit them with as many javelins as she could muster.

Phoenix screamed as she and her three Elite vanished from site and into the sun.

"You killed her?" Krystalin asked.

"I had no choice. If I hadn't, we would have all died and who knows how many more if she continued on," Blink said as she was filled with conflicting emotion. Happiness that they had won and old friends were back in her life and sadness for the loss of other friends.

"Oh, no. It seems with the death of Jean our mission is complete. We're being sent home as promised," Mimic said as his Talus beeped.

"No, not again," Blink said looking at Mimic.

"Wait, you're leaving? What do I do now?" Krystalin said to Sunfire as she begins to fade.

There was nothing she could do, their time was up. In a flash of light Mimic, WizKid, BattleStar, Sunfire, Storm and Thor vanished. The X-Terminators were gone leaving the Exiles behind. Blink was about to address her team when things began to go white.

"What's going on?" Krystalin asked as she saw the others beginning to fade too.

"We're moving on to our next mission," Blink began to say as she succumbed to the white.

_**Alternate Earth- Weapon-X VS Squadron Sinister**_

"Why are you smiling?" Hyperion asked as he crushed Creed's windpipe.

"Time's up," Creed whispered.

Suddenly Hyperion sensed another presence. He dropped Creed and turned around to see Vision standing right behind him. Before he could move Vision held up a weapon of some kind and pulled the trigger. A flash of powerful light went off and engulfed Hyperion. When the light faded, the weapon and the android were a pile of dust and smoke.

"Looks like your plan backfired," Hyperion smiled as he walked over to Creed whose healing factor had starting fixing the damage done to him.

"No, it worked and I'll never forget my friend's sacrifice," Creed said.

"I grow tired of you. Time to end this," Hyperion said as he swung at Creed.

"Ouch, I almost felt that," Creed said as the punch barely moved his face.

"What?" Hyperion asked as Creed threw him in the building behind them.

"That was the Ultimate Nullifier and it took away your powers," Creed laughed as he sliced open Hyperion's stomach with his claws.

"It can't be," Hyperion gasped holding his would and finding he couldn't fly away.

"It is and I'm going to love this," Creed said as he leapt at the very human Hyperion.

Spider looked down as the creature known as Carnage helped his healing advance. In a matter of moments he would be up and walking again but he was still dizzy from the loss of blood. Peter sighed as he looked over at something moving towards him. It was a figure made of blood and muscle. Even without any hair or flesh he knew it was the man called Logan. His healing factor was working fast and he could already see flesh forming.

"Going somewhere, bub?" Logan asked as he leapt on top of Spider extending his claws.

Spider didn't have a chance to say a word. Logan severed his head from his body as the rest of his skin reformed. Logan looked down and could see the Carnage creature still moving. That thing had to be stopped, but how? Fire suddenly engulfed the creature holding it at bay as a hand reached down and then turned it to pure steel. Logan looked up to see Magnus and Firestar.

"I see you pulled yourself back together," Magnus said to Logan.

"I see your force field saved you and red. Thanks for the assist," Logan said.

"No problem, but it looked like you had a head start," Firestar smiled.

"We better check on the others," Magnus said taking flight.

Deadpool stood there waiting for his healing factor to finish doing its job. When he was up he would make Creed pay. He looked over and saw Thunderstrike standing there as a steel statue now. As he reached out he could tell she was dead, there was no power to synch with. He had to make note, when Magnus turned you steel that's the end of the road for you and no coming back. Wade laughed a little and then got to his feet.

He stopped smiling when he came face to face with Firestar and Logan. He tried to synch with their powers when Firestar engulfed him in flames. As his skin burned off his body, Logan removed his head. Firestar released her powers and looked down at the smoking and chard body of Deadpool.

"Think he's done for?" Firestar asked.

"Wouldn't count him out yet, he may still jump back," Logan said digging a hole in the ground.

"What are you doing?" Firestar asked.

"Taking precautions," Logan said has he dropped the head in the hole and filled it in with dirt ad then began burying Deadpool's body in a different hole.

Sasquatch switched back to human form. She looked down and saw her legs were fine. She switched back to beast form and was still fine. It appeared that her beast healing factor and mystical changing form had fixed her legs. She got up as she saw Magnus fly by. He smiled to see her okay and asked her to help round up the other Squadron Sinister members and care to the rest of Weapon-X since Creed and Vision had defeated Hyperion.

"You know, once I get my powers back I will finish what I started," Hyperion said as he coughed up blood.

"Sorry, that'll ever happen," Creed said as he snapped the man's neck completing their mission and saving countless others from this evil mad man.

Creed sighed, he had come to look for methods other than killing but sometimes you had no choice. Creed walked over to see how the rest of his team had faired. Ms. Marvel, Daredevil minus his Shadow Lance that had been destroyed, Tony Stark minus his Iron-Man armor and Vendetta had all been tied up.

"As long as his sword stays embedded in his chest he will remain in a coma like state," Magnus said as their leader approached.

"I say we kill them," Logan said.

"No, our mission was to eliminate Hyperion. Now that he's dead, the others will be taken back to the Timebroker and dealt with by them," Creed said. "How's the rest of the team?"

"Hulk and Thunderbird are beaten up pretty badly but if we can get them some medical attention they'll be fine," Magnus said.

"I'm sure the Timebroker can help them. The Talus is beeping, our mission is done and time to return with the prisoners to the Time Brokerage," Creed sighed with relief. As his world began to turn white he was glad to finally be free of all this.

_**Epilogue – Time Brokerage**_

"Sir, we are getting reports that the Phoenix has been identified as the White Out problem and has been eliminated," a man in white said.

"Great, time to begin clean up. Also, prepare holding cells. Hyperion has been destroyed and the rest of his squad is being brought in," Time Broker said smiling that he had been able to avert two disasters at once.

"Red alert!" The alarms began to belt out.

"What is going on?" Time Broker asked over the loud sirens.

"Sir, a portal is being torn open in front of the screens here. I can see something standing on the other side. It also looks like a second portal is behind them," the man in white shouted.

Timebroker ran over and saw the small portal opening there in the Time Brokerage. How could this be, no one could penetrate this place. He looked and saw the figure on the other side throw a device in the portal behind her and then turned and smiled at him. He couldn't believe it, it was her. She was dead, how could this be? He began to shout when the woman threw a devise through the portal and into the Time Brokerage. The woman smiled as the portal closed and the devise exploded and engulfed the Timebroker and the Time Brokerage in a wave of fire.

**Next: Issue #15 – Downtime**


	16. Downtime

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #15 – Downtime**

_**New Exiles**_

The world went from white to color with a sudden jerk. Clarice, the Exiles known as Blink rubbed her eyes and looked around. She was standing in a wooded area. To her senses, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She quickly scanned the area and saw Morph, Dr. Gamma, Power Pack, Darklight and the Phoenix Elite member Krystalin. She had hoped to see her friend Nocturne the big dog but the memory of her death pained her heart.

"Looks like we survived that mess," Dr. Gamma said.

"Glad to have you back, Doctor," Blink said holding back her tears.

"I still can't believe Jean betrayed us like that," Power Pack sighed as she glared at Krystalin.

"I'm not surprised. I had a bad feeling about her, but in all fairness she did what she did to get back home," Blink said.

"No different from what we do," Darklight said turning towards Krystalin.

"True, but we don't kill our friends or teammates to do it," Blink said.

"What about her? What's she doing here?" Morph said turning into a giant question mark.

"Sunfire vouched for her at the end. Said she wasn't truly with them and had reformed," Blink said.

"I didn't mean for her to do what she did. I guess I'm not sure where I go from here," Krystalin said as she stared at the others.

"Everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves. I wonder how she got here with us? What does your Tallus say?" Darklight asked.

"That's strange," Blink said looking at the devise on her arm.

"What is it?" Dr. Gamma asked.

"The Tallus is down. I'm not getting any readings and can't seem to get it to tell me anything. Last thing it lists is it indicated Krystalin as our replacement for Phoenix. Then it starts to mention our new destination but then indicates system failure and that's the end of the log," Blink said looking back up at the others.

"Her intentions must be legit if she's placed on our team," Power Pack said.

"Oh yeah, just like Jean," Blink smirked to herself.

"So we have no idea where we are or how to get out of here. We're stuck," Darklight commented.

"Maybe we can find someone here who might be able to fix that thing," Dr. Gamma said.

"I agree, but until we know where we are we should keep a low profile," Blink said.

"Guys, there's someone coming our way," Morph said becoming giant binoculars.

They all turned to look as they saw a figure coming our from behind a tree and heading for them. A man with long blond hair, blue skin and wore blue cybernetic-like armor. The man stopped and stared with wide eyes as the Exiles turned to face him. The Exiles shouted in surprise as the sight of the man for they knew who he was.

"Warpath," Krystalin said at her former teammate.

"I thought he had been brain fried and left for dead?" Dr. Gamma said.

"We'll take him quickly," Darklight said starting to release the dark form his left hand.

"Guys, wait, it's me, Nocturne," Warpath said in Nocturne's voice.

"T.J.?" Blink asked with tears starting to swell in her eyes as she grabbed and hugged the man.

"It's me. Seems that when Lockjaw died I was able to hop out, but I only had a few seconds to choose between Drax, a crisp Moondragon or Warpath. I figured this was the best out of the three," Nocturne said.

"It was hard enough trying to get used to you as a dog, but now a guy?" Morph said changing form dog to man and back.

"I know this armor shifts so let me try something," Nocturne said.

Nocturne concentrated and the armor came to life at her command. It quickly reformed and covered her face. Even though she was in a man's body, the armor shifted to look like a well built woman's body. Nocturne knew, as long as she kept the armor on and like this she would resemble a woman. At least this way she wouldn't feel too uncomfortable in Warpath's body.

"Not bad," Blink laughed.

"Yeah, but I really need to find a way to get my own body back," Nocturne said slowly getting used to her new body. At least she wasn't a giant do anymore.

"Where to now boss lay?" Dr. Gamma asked.

"I say we follow Nocturne. With Warpath's body she has Longshot's powers and we might get lucky," Krystalin said deciding she needed to make an effort to click with this team.

"Believe it or not, I think that's a wise choice for now," Blink said knowing they had to start somewhere.

With the rest of the team's nods, Nocturne closed her eyes and then instinctively started walking in one direction. Blink and the others began to follow without hesitation. They didn't' know where they were going but they hoped they would find answers somewhere. Krystalin followed with a little distance between her and the others. After what happened, she knew it might take awhile for them to warm up to her. She sighed as Sunfire came to her mind and she begins wondering where she was right now.

_**X-Terminators**_

Mimic smiled as his sight came back to him. The Time Broker had promised them that if they completed their mission that they would all be sent home. Mimic couldn't wait to see his old friends again. He knew he would miss Blink and al the others he had met during his journey, but it was time to go home. His smile quickly faded when he found himself surrounded by trees while overlooking a small clearing where a log cabin resided. He knew right away he wasn't home and to confirm that fact were five others standing behind him.

"I thought we were being sent home," BattleStar said stepping up beside Mimic.

"Looks like the Time Broker lied to us," Sunfire began to swear.

"This is most definitely not Africa," Storm said looking around.

"Pretty scenery tough," Thor said as he glanced at the trees and Mimic.

"Where are we?" WizKid asked wishing he could find anything to build a new suit so he could walk.

"The Tallus seems to be broken. It indicates that it was getting ready to send me home but then reads system failure," Mimic said.

"I wonder what that means?" Sunfire asked.

"I'm betting that something must have happened with the devise. It went down before we all got sent home and dropped us at the closest reality," Thor said smiling at Calvin.

"You're probably right. I just wonder where we are and whether we're stuck here or not," Mimic said tapping the devise on his arm.

"I think I know where we are. We're back on Earth 116X," WizKid said.

"How do you know that?" Sunfire asked.

"Because, this is where I'm from and that is our old teammate Beak coming out of the cabin. He's from here too," WizKid said waving at the old Exile member.

"Barnell, good to see you again," BattleStar said running down and giving the bird looking boy a high five.

"What are you guys doing here? And where are the rest of the Exiles?" Barnell asked looking at a slightly different team than he remembered.

"We're actually called the X-Terminators," Mimic said as he told Beak all that they had been through.

"Wow, I really missed out. Here I thought Jean was one of the good guys," Beak said.

"Sometimes people will go to any lengths to get home," WizKid said.

"But not at the cost of realities worth of lives," BattleStar added.

"Where do you guys plan to go?" Beak asked.

"Well, I have no real home here for us to go back to," WizKid said sadly.

"You guys can come down to my cabin. You can meet my wife and kids," Beak said skipping down the hill towards the cabin.

"That has kids and a wife?" Storm asked with a smile.

"You can never judge," Thor said as he followed after the rest of the X-Terminators.

They all made it down to the cabin. It was simple in design on the outside. Looked like your basic log cabin. Inside was different. It was your basic cabin setup except there was electricity, television, computers, and all the basics you see in a traditional home in the city. Mimic was impressed. He wondered how they had managed this kind of setup.

"Scott and the X-Men had set this all up for Angel while I was gone. Figuring a single mom needed a decent setup. When I returned they let us keep this setup," Beak said.

"Wait, the X-Men? Are you saying," Sunfire began to say.

"Yeah, we are located a few miles from the Xavier School. We're still on the estate but they let us live separate but we can call on them at anytime," Beak said.

"Maybe we should go up to the school. I know the X-Men would help us," WizKid said with excitement. It had been along time since he had seen them or worked along side any of them but he knew they would help if they needed it.

"Are you sure that is wise? Seems last time we did something while on this Earth we caused a Time Quake," BattleStar said looking at Wiz and Beak.

"I think we'll be fine. We need to find out what's wrong with the Tallus and get home," Mimic said.

"I agree. I'll go where ever you need us to go," Thor said smiling at Mimic.

"Before you go, care to join us for dinner?" A beautiful girl with weird blue eyes and fly-like wings on her back said from the kitchen doorway.

"Guys, this is my wife, Angel Salvadore and these are our kids," Beak said introducing his family.

The X-Terminators gasped as a dozen toddlers came rushing out the door way. Some were running around the floor while others flew around their heads. They were the strongest kids they had ever seen. Some took after their dad with beaks and wing like arms while others took after their mother with fly wings or big blue eyes. Some of them looked like a cross between the two parents and some looked exactly human except for the wings. It was quite the family Beak had, that was for sure.

"…Kara, Axel and this is Tito," Angel said introducing all the kids to them.

"Very tasty kids you have here," Sunfire said suddenly feeling very weird.

"What?" Angel asked in surprise.

"I mean, sweet. I get words mixed up sometimes. I love your home," Sunfire said quickly and then changing the subject.

Mariko didn't like what was happening to her. Ever since she had come back as a vampire she had to deal with a few changes. She had been given heightened senses, strength and all the strengths that come with being a vampire. But she also got all their weaknesses too, except sunlight. Her mutant power to be immune to heat and fire seems to allow her to be in the daylight, but she still couldn't go near garlic, holy water and wooden stakes. Most of all, she had to deal with the thirst.

She found herself craving blood all the time. She knew she should tell her friends but she was afraid they might reject her or think her evil. So, for now she has kept it secret and settled on sneaking off and feeding off wild animals or major bad guys in other dimension. As time went on, she was finding it harder to quench her thirst, especially since mutant blood called to her. She knew that at some point she would have to tell Cal and the others before something bad happened, but now wasn't the time.

"Well, let's eat and then get up to the mansion," Beak said ushering his guests to the table.

"Oh my," Thor gasped as he watched Beak and Angel regurgitate their food onto their children's plates. It was going to be a very long or quick supper.

_**Weapon-X**_

Victor Creed, the mutant named Sabretooth and the leader of Weapon-X sighed with relief as he activated the devise to teleport his team and their prisoners back to the Time Brokerage. They were all surrounded by a giant white bubble as they felt themselves being moved through time and space. It was a different means of traveling than how they usually teleported when being sent on missions. Maybe because this was a direct means of traveling to the Time Brokerage.

They had completed their mission. They had to find Hyperion and his sinister squad of evil to kill him and bring the others back for imprisonment. Creed knew Hyperion had done a lot of damage in realities before they had found him but they had done it. With the sacrifice of Vision using the Ultimate Nullifier they had managed to kill Hyperion and end his threat forever. Unfortunately Spider, Deadpool and Thunderstrike had been killed but they had Ms. Marvel, Daredevil, Tony Stark and Vendetta in custody.

It was hard to face the fact that most of them, alive and dead had once been members of Weapon-X. Creed always knew that his team had always been edgier to do more critical missions but all it took was one pure evil man to tip the team towards evil. Luckily he was dead and Creed was back in charge of them and he would never let that line be crossed again. Creed hated the idea of all this being over but a part of him hoped that they would all be allowed to go back home after this.

"What's that noise?" Firestar asked as a loud perking noise belted form the devise on Creed's wrist.

"I don't know," Creed said looking at his arm.

"Something don't smell or feel right," Logan said.

"Ouch," Hulk and Thunderbird said in unison as the white bubble began to shake violently.

Jen Walters, the Hulk had suffered broken arms and legs during their battle and hadn't fully healed yet. John Proudstar, the Horseman known as Warpath was still on the mend from cracked ribs and his torn platings had not healed and grown back yet. In time they would be fine but for now, the shaking didn't help their pain.

"This is bad," Creed said.

"What?" Heather Hudson, the woman known as Sasquatch asked.

"The devise is reporting severe damage at current destination. It's trying to compensate. Something's going on at the Time Brokerage," Creed said.

"What's going on?" Firestar asked.

"I don't know. Wait, it's terminating our destination. Something's happening. The devise is going into system failure. Magnus, force field now, everyone else brace yourselves," Creed shouted as the bubble exploded in a huge white light. When the light faded, Creed noticed they were floating in water. He only counted his six teammates before he blacked out. Their prisoners were gone.

_**Squadron Sinister**_

Ms. Marvel came back to the world of the living at the sound of rushing air. She blinked her eyes when she realized she was high up in the sky falling to the Earth below. She called on her powers and was able to gain flight. She looked and saw Daredevil, Tony Stark and Vendetta falling to their deaths. She glanced quickly and noticed that Weapon-X was nowhere to be seen. She didn't know what had happened but she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. She flew at Vendetta and yanked the sword out of his chest. As she grabbed Daredevil and Tony and flew them safely to the ground, Vendetta came back to life, grabbed his sword and used his magnetism to slow his decent.

"Where are we?" Vendetta asked as she saw they were on a sandy beach next to a large body of water.

"I don't know. Something happened and we got separated from our captors," Ms. Marvel said.

"What do we do now?" Daredevil asked looking around.

"I say we check out the reality were in and then take it over," Tony Stark said walking up to them.

"Really don't think you're in the position to tell us what to do or do anything for that matter," Daredevil smirked.

"Really?" Tony said as a blast of blue hellfire hit Daredevil sending him flying backwards.

"I may not have my enhanced armor but a fraction of Zaratho's powers still resides in me," Tony said as his skin became red and begin to glow with blue fire.

"It seems we have our new leader," Vendetta commented with a glare from Ms. Marvel.

"You may call me, Blue Fire and you can come out now. I know you're there," Tony said as they all turned to an opening of a cave.

"We were not hiding. We were just watching and waiting," a figure said coming out of the cave.

"Deadpool, is that you? Didn't you die?" Ms. Marvel asked as a figure with Deadpool's body and Carnage's face walked towards them.

"Yes and no. Peter and Wade are both dead. They tried to turn us to steel but only turned the outer layer. Enough of us dug deep into the ground. We then took over the headless body of Deadpool. As we merged, the devise thought us alive enough to port us out with the rest of you," the figure of Deadpool said.

"Guess they didn't notice with what ever happened," Daredevil said.

"No they didn't. It seems something went wrong with the devise and the bubble exploded. It sent them somewhere and us somewhere else," Deadpool said.

"Is any part of Wade in there?" Blue Fire asked.

"No, we are in complete control for once. All that remains of Wade is his abilities and healing factor merged with ours. It seems we could take his body and form our own head. Good to know that we don't need a host with a head. We can take the body and actually control ourselves for once," Deadpool said.

"Glad to have you with us. Do we call you Deadpool?" Blue Fire asked.

"No, we can be called Deathpool," the creature smiled with its large jagged teeth filled mouth.

"Where to now, boss man?" Ms. Marvel mocked.

"Away from the ocean," Blue Fire said as he headed up the beach and the others soon followed.

_**Epilogue**_

"We're alive?" A very surprised young man asked noticing they were high up on a mountain top.

"Yes. They may have weaken me, but sending me to the place my power is born from will not kill me," a woman blazing with red fire said looking at the three figures behind her.

"Where are we?" A woman with a yellow visor asked.

"We are where we need to be," the fiery woman said.

"Look, off in the distance you can see beams of pure fire shooting up to the heavens," a figure holding a purple axe said.

"What's going on?" the young man asked.

"Now!" A dark voice boomed at them from out of nowhere.

"We help give HIM this world in return for the power to have my world returned to me," Phoenix said as she called forth her powers.

A fiery force shot out from her and engulfed the other three. She then took that power and sent it upwards. A very powerful beam of fire in the shape of a bird darts to the center of the place the other beams of fire they had seen were headed. Once the fiery bird of power hit its destination the sky erupted in a blast of pure fire.

"Let the Storm come," Phoenix said as the heavens turned red.

**Next: Read Demon Storm #1 – Demon Storm – Part One**

**Then be back here for Issue #16 – Demon Storm – Part Three**


	17. Demon Storm Part Three

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #16 – Demon Storm – Part Three**

_**New Exiles – Stranded in another Reality**_

"So, you have any ideas on where we are?" Dr. Gamma asked.

"I'm guessing by the look of those, I'd say we're in Colorado," Power Pack said pointing.

The Exiles, due to a broken Tallus had ended up in a reality with no means of information on where they were or what they were supposed to do. At this point, they had no idea if they would be able to leave. Relying on Nocturne's new luck ability they trusted in following her. After walking carefully they came out of a brush of woods to find themselves at the base of a mountain. Now they at least had a geographical lead for where they were.

"That's great, but it still doesn't tell us what kind reality we're in," Blink said looking around and tapping the broken devise on her arm again.

"Well, my armor's eye piece is picking up some reading around the bend," Nocturne said.

"Let me check it out," Blink said and vanished.

"You think we'll ever get home?" Power Pack asked glancing at the man standing beside her in all blue.

"It's hard to say. I thought you loved this gig?" Darklight asked.

"Yes, at first I did, but know I don't know. I thought it would be great adventures, no parents looking over my shoulder and a chance to be me and have fun," Power Pack said.

"But now?" Darklight glanced at her.

"After our last battle and some of the things we've had to do and now this, I'm really missing my cozy life back home," Power Pack sighed.

"Don't realize what you have till you can't get it back, huh?" Darklight smirked.

"What about you? Don't you miss your home?" Power Pack asked.

"I don't have much of a home to return to. My dad died and I grew up never knowing him. My mom abandoned me and went back to the streets. I never knew my mom until I got older. I found her and she was strung out on drugs and the only thing she wanted from me was more drugs. I've never seen her again. This gig is just another gig," Darklight said.

Alexis looked up at the man and could read deep pain behind that mask. This was probably the most he had ever and would ever open up to a person in his life. Alexis knew they didn't have much in common besides growing up with the X-Men, but she found a sort of kinship with him. She didn't now why, but she did.

"She's back," Dr. Gamma said as Blink appeared out of thin air and moved towards them all.

"What did you find out?" Nocturne asked.

"There's a little truck stop and diner around the corner. Looking at the cliental I didn't get too close. Not sure how responsive they are to people like us," Blink said.

"Well, Alexis and I could pass has human. If we style Krystalin's hair over her ears she should pass as human. If we had a scarf we could cover her chin," Dr. Banner said.

"I can handle that," Power Pack said as she closed her eyes and concentrated. "Costume off!"

As soon as Power Pack had shouted her command her body was covered in a series of smoke, light, energy and gravity pulses. In a matter of seconds her costume was gone and she was standing in a pair of blue jeans, white shirt and a red coat and scarf. She smiled and pulled the scarf off and handed it to Krystalin.

"Pretty cool," Morph said shifting his form to look like Alexis' outfit.

"Yeah, comes in handy. My dad got it from the alien that gave him his powers," Alexis smiled.

"Okay, I want you three to go and find out what you can and come back. Please be careful and any sign of trouble get out of there," Blink said.

"So, can you use your powers when your costume is off?" Dr. Banner asked as the three walked towards the truck stop.

"Yes, but my clothes won't be protected. If they do get ruined, I just have to costume on and then off and cloths are good as new. I don't know how it works but I don't question it," Alexis said.

"I see, and what can you tell us about you, Krystalin," Leonard Banner asked.

"Not much to tell. My mother, Lyja was a Skrull undercover and fell in love and got pregnant by the human Nick Fury. I was raised off Earth believing my father was evil and lead an assault against him. When I finally met him, I learned my mother had lied to me and my whole life had been a lie. I needed to escape and Phoenix offered me that option," Krystalin said.

"I knew you weren't evil when I saw you," Alexis said.

"Truthfully, I never wanted to wage war on my dad, but I felt compelled like I had to. I thought Phoenix's way was good at the time but the more I saw what she was planning the more I wished I hadn't gone with her. Then I met Sunfire and she showed me kindness, that I can be a better person," Krystalin said.

"Oh, she was the one that had fire. She used to be an Exile but was on that X-Terminator team," Alexis said.

"Yes and I hope to see her again someday if fate allows. Until then I will do what I can to prove myself to your team," Krystalin said.

"You don't have to prove yourself to us. We Exiles are used to getting new members at any moment and adapting to get along. As long as you don't try to kill us we'll get along just fine," Dr. Gamma said with a laugh.

"I would never try to kill you," Krystalin said.

"He's teasing you," Alexis said as Krystalin nodded and tried to smile.

The three came to the truck stop and looked around. It was small with a few dozen gas pumps. As they walked in they saw a section where you could buy supplies and a second section where people could sit and dine. Dr. Gamma urged them along as a hostess sat them at a booth. Dr. Gamma had Krystalin sit on the inside next to him so people would have a good look at her. Alexis sat opposite of them.

"What can I get ya?" A fairly plump woman with bright red hair, horned rim glasses said while smacking her gum.

"We'll need a few minutes yet. Could we just get some water for now?" Leonard said knowing all they could afford was water since it was free.

"Here's a newspaper," Alexis said grapping the paper off the empty booth behind her.

Leonard starting flipping through the pages and couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. For all intent and purposes this was a pretty normal world. Of course, he knew the Exiles had appeared on many like this but found a twist somewhere. For what he could read, it was 2007 and this world was as normal it could be.

"Find anything good?" Alexis asked.

"Nothing really, they don't report much on super hero activities this far west. There is an article about the Fantastic Four. I think it might be safe to go to New York and look up Reed Richards. If anyone knows how to fix this it'll be him," Dr. Gamma said knowing that no matter what world you were on, Reed Richards was your smartest bet.

"Hey pretty lady. My name's Earl, and yours?" A fat, unshaven and toothless trucker said stepping up to their table and addressing Krystalin.

"I would rather be left alone," Krystalin said keeping her face looking down.

"Hey, just trying to be friendly. Let me see that pretty face for yours," Earl said sitting down next to her.

"I think you should leave," Leonard said staring directly into the man's eyes.

"I'll leave when I'm done talking to the lady here," Earl said placing his hand on her thigh.

"Take your Earthling hand off me," Krystalin said as she called forth her powers.

"What're you doing?" Earl screamed as he jumped up clutching his hand encased in crystal. The push out caused Krystalin's scarf to fall revealing her face and ears. "She's one of them mutants!"

"I think we better go," Leonard said as the whole dinner began to point and stare.

Just as the three got to their feet the ground began to shake. People began to scream and look out the windows. Leonard ran to a window and looked out and gasped. Something was happening at the top of the mountain causing snow and rocks to coming tumbling down upon the diner. They had to act fast.

"There's an avalanche coming. We have to stop and divert it before it hits the truck stop," Leonard said.

"I'm on it. Costume On!" Alexis said as her clothes were replaced by her costume that she knew was making the truckers stare.

"I shall help," Krystalin said as she ran out after Power Pack.

"How do we stop that?" Power Pack asked trying to think.

"Can you fly me high up?" Krystalin asked as Power Pack increased her strength and called on her flight powers.

"I'll do my best," Power Pack said straining as she slowly lifted her teammate up. She knew that trying to use more than one power at a time caused great strain and it reduced the power of her abilities.

"This is high enough. Just hold me while I do the rest," Krystalin said as she called on her powers.

Krystalin pushed herself as her crystal powers generated a crystal barrier underneath the oncoming avalanche. She made the barrier high and curved to the side so that when the avalanche hit it would stop and slide to the left and right and land on the ground away from the struck stop. It was working, but she didn't know how much longer she could hold the barrier against the pressure.

"I can't keep this up," Krystalin said.

"Yes you can," Darklight said as he placed his hand on her back.

She looked to see Morph in the shape of a giant bird holding Darklight. His white hand began to glow and she could feel her muscles healing and she along with her powers getting stronger. She pushed and found that not only was her crystal barrier getting bigger but the snow upon it was crystallizing and being coming part of the barrier itself. She then glanced and saw Blink teleporting around sending her javelins at all the large rocks falling and sending them away while Nocturne's armor had become some kind of heat ray that was evaporating a lot of the snow.

After a few minutes, the avalanche had been stopped and the Exiles took to the ground. Krystalin and Power Pack sat on the ground tired from the push on their powers. Blink smiled at her team as she saw Dr. Gamma trying to keep a cheering crowd at bay from rushing them. The crowed stopped cheering and all began to scream. Blink looked up.

A faint red beam from the mountain top had faded away but the sky had turned red. Soon pieces of flaming rock began to fall from the sky. Blink saw that they weren't large enough to do any damage, but that fact that the sky was red and it was raining fire worried her. Her team pulled close to her, waiting for instructions.

"What do you suppose is going on?" Nocturne asked.

"I don't know but I think we're going to find out," Blink said as four shapes starting coming toward them.

"I thought I felt your presence down her," one of the figures shouted as they stopped hovering above them.

"Phoenix, I thought you sent her into the sun," Power Pack said.

"As did I, but why am I not surprised she's connected to all this," Blink said.

"Did you really think you could kill me? You may have foiled my plans but as you can see, you've no way of stopping the master plan," Phoenix laughed.

"You won't be able to stop us this time," Black Axe said holding his giant purple axe.

"This time we will kill you," Cyclops said.

"Including the traitor," Bolt said glaring at Krystalin.

"You may try, but we are the ones that will not fall," Krystalin glared back.

Phoenix began to smile when suddenly her body began to convulse. "No, this was not part of the deal."

Everyone stared as suddenly Jean Howlett began to change form. Her skin had turned red and horns grew from her head. Giant demon wings sprouted form her back and then burst into flame. She laughed and then sent a burst of fire at her three Elite members consuming them in fire. The fire transformed all three of them into hideous looking demons. Blink imagined form their screams it wasn't voluntary.

"What the hell?" Nocturne asked for all of them.

"Jean?" Blink asked looking at the demon woman.

"Jean is dead. I am Phoenextra, the Demon Queen, one of the Horsemen of Hell. Once we rid ourselves of you we will head to New York to welcome Semaj and his Demon Storm," Phoenextra bellowed as she used her fiery powers to alter and change the falling pieces of rock into giant demon bats and attacked.

_**Epilogue – X-Terminators**_

"Well, that was interesting," Storm said as she left the dinner table and stepped outside the cabin.

"Hard to eat while watching them feed their kinds," Sunfire said trying to control her thirst.

"So are we headed up to see the X-Men?" Storm asked.

"I think so. If anyone can help us fix the Tallus and get us home it'll be them," Sunfire said.

"I agree," Mimic said as he and the rest of the team stepped outside and joined them.

"Be interesting to see this world's X-Men," Thor said as he smiled at Calvin.

"Angel's tending to the kids. I'll take you up to the mansion. You'll have to hang back a little and let me explain to Cyclops what is going on. They might know how to react to alternate versions of people they know," Beak said.

"I agree, we'll follow your lead," Mimic winked at Beak.

As they began to head out a terrible rumble could be heard and the ground began to shake. Mimic looked to Beak who just shrugged. Their questions were soon answered as they saw a huge beam of fire off in the distance shot up towards the sky. The sky began to turn read the moment it hit the sky.

"What is that?" BattleStar asked.

"I don't know, but I can feel the heat generating fro that thing," Sunfire said.

"We better hurry guys. If I'm not mistaken, that beam of fire is coming directly from where the X-Mansion is," Beak said in a panic.

"Let's go," WizKid said as he finished creating his new armor out of the junk laying around the cabin.

"You all will die," they heard a voice boom from the direction of the beam of fire.

They knew something big was going on and they had to get there fast. They moved as fast as they could toward the beam of fire. They were half way to Xavier's school when they saw the sky start to rain fire. As the pieces of fiery rock hit the ground they exploded in flames. Sunfire hovered up and concentrated. All the rocks falling near them snuffed out as she absorbed the fire into herself.

"Looks like the end of the world," Beak said looking up at the sky.

"It is for you," a giant purple demon smoking a cigar said with a smirk.

"Who?" WizKid asked as they all turned to face the demon.

"Name's S'ym and we're here on behalf of the Dark Child to make sure no one reaches the mansion," S'ym laughed as he snapped his fingers and dozens of demons came out from behind the trees surrounding them on all side.

**Next: Issue #17 – Demon Storm – Part Eleven – Final battle with Phoenextra and S'ym **

**Check out the following issues as the other Horsemen of Hell make their move:**

**Salem-X #17 & 18 – Demon Storm Part Ten**

**New Exiles #16 & 17 – Demon Storm Part Three & Eleven**

**Power Pack #13 & 14 – Demon Storm Part Four & Twelve**

**Wild Pack #13 & 14 – Demon Storm Part Five & Thirteen (Final Issue)**

**Alpha Squads #13 & 14 – Demon Storm Part Six & Fourteen (Final Issue)**

**Mutant Generation Force #14 & 15 – Demon Storm Part Seven & Fifteen**

**X-Calibur # 13 & 14 – Demon Storm Part Eight & Sixteen**

**Sensational X-Men # 13 & 14 – Demon Storm Part Nine & Seventeen**

**Then Read: Demon Storm #2 – Demon Storm – Part Eighteen – The Conclusion **


	18. Demon Storm Part Eleven

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #17 – Demon Storm – Part Eleven**

_**New Exiles – Earth 116X – Colorado**_

"Phoenextra, a Horseman of Hell? What's going on here?" Nocturne asked as her armor came to life and she started taking out demon bats with lucky shots.

"I don't know, but it appears she's made a deal with something or someone major in this world," Blink said hitting bats with her javelins and sending them deep into space.

"You have no idea. The power of Semaj and his forces will be unleashed upon this world," Phoenextra said as she sends a wave of fire at the members of the Exiles.

"I don't see what this is going to accomplish destroying this world. We will stop you," Nocturne said as her armor protected her from the fire and Blink teleported out of the way.

"Yeah, that worked out so well last time. Trust me, once I have the power I need I'll finally be able to bring my world back," Phoenextra bellowed as she sent a wave that sent Dr. Gamma flying backwards before he could sneak up on her.

"You're world is gone. I'm sorry but it had to be to save the lives of billions of universes. The Timebrokers won't allow you to do this," Blink said.

"Trust me, the Timebrokers are no longer a threat to me or anyone else," Phoenextra laughed.

"What are you talking about?" Morph asked as he flew by becoming a giant question mark and back as Bolt shot electricity at him.

"I have put an end to their reign of superiority," Phoenextra laughed.

"I don't believe you," Blink said.

"Okay, if I'm lying try using your Tallus. Or by chance did it go into system failure before completely shutting down? What's wrong can't make a call or get home?" Phoenextra laughed as she saw Blink glance at her wrist and swear.

"You don't think?" Nocturne began to ask her friend and comrade.

"As much as I want to think she's lying, it would explain a lot," Blink said zapping away more demon bats.

"Does that mean were stuck here forever?" Power Pack asked as she used her strength powers to grab the giant demon foot of Cyclops and flip her backwards.

"No, it means we have to stop her at all costs and find a way to the Time Brokerage and find out what happened," Darklight said as he held out his left hand and engulfed the Horseman of Hell in complete darkness.

"You think this will stop me?" Phoenextra shouted as the darkness was consumed by her fiery power with a backlash that sent Darklight flying backwards.

"Are you okay?" Power Pack asked landing beside Darklight.

"Yes. It was like her power was burning right through my dark powers. It was like nothing I've felt before," Darklight said as he got to his feet rubbing his left hand.

"I know what her power was like when I was part of the Elite. I can't imagine what it's like now with her upgrade," Krystalin said as she sent dozens of crystal shards at attacking demon bats.

"It won't matter when you die by my axe, traitor," a more demon looking Black Axe said holding his purple sonic axe lit by hell's fire.

Black Axe swung his fiery blade at Krystalin. She quickly called forth her powers and created a boa staff out of crystal. She planted it into the ground as she lifted her self up and into the air, propelling her over Black Axe landing behind him as his axe swung at empty air. He turned around in surprise to find himself looking right into his enemy's eyes.

"You think me soft, you think me weak. You forget, I'm a warrior and was the leader of the Skrull army," Krystalin said as she shifted her skin into pure crystal and landed a punch to his face that sent him flying backwards.

"Dang, girls got game," Darklight smirked to himself.

"Which you don't" Bolt said as he blasted Darklight with a burst of fiery electricity.

The now, demon enhanced Bolt powered up for another blast when Morph jumped between him and his prey. This didn't stop Bolt from unleashing his powers. Electricity infused with fire hit Morph with full force. Morph screamed as the fiery electricity interfered with his control of his body and forced him to shift into a melty goo. Bolt laughed until a shadow fell over him.

Bolt turned to see Dr. Gamma standing behind him. Bolt redirected his powers and hit Dr. Gamma with everything he had. To his surprise, Dr. Gamma didn't even flinch. Instead he just stood there appearing to get a little greener and a little bigger. Bolt poured it on but that didn't stop Dr. Gamma. Leonard smirked as he punched Bolt sending him flying up against the base of the mountain.

"Leonard," Nocturne said as she caught a glance of her greenish teammate.

"Don't worry, I'll never let myself go to that place again," Dr. Banner said as his color shifted back and he got a little smaller.

"But I will," Cyclops said as the giant demon lady moved over him.

Her visor opened and released a blast of pure fire hitting Dr. Gamma and slamming him deep into the ground. Dr. Gamma groaned as his blistered body began to slowly heal, but he was still a little out of it to move. Cyclops opened her visor for another blast and fired. Dr. Gamma opened his eyes wide as Power Pack was soon standing over him calling forth her powers.

Power Pack began to glow yellow as the beam of fire hit her and her body began to absorb it. Power Pack winced with pain as Cyclops continued to pour on the power. It was getting to be too much for Alexis. Normally when she absorbed energy her body used it to fuel her powers but she was absorbing more power than her body could disperse from within. In a scream of pain, Power Pack did something she had never done before.

Instead of keeping the power within, her body forced it outwards. Her body crackled as a giant yellow energy ball formed in front of her and then shoot upwards. The giant energy ball flew and hit Cyclops dean in the face, exploding and destroying her face mask. Cyclops screamed in pain as she grabbed her face and turned off her powers shrinking back to normal size. No longer glowing yellow, Power Pack dropped to her knee in exhaustion.

"Thanks," Dr. Gamma said helping Alexis to her feet.

"Enough of this, I will finish you all myself," Phoenextra said as she raised her hands.

Fiery power swirled around her hands as Bolt, Cyclops and Black Axe began to glow red with fire. Fire exploded around the three as power began to drain from them and back into Phoenextra. In a matter of seconds the three quit glowing as they reverted back to their human forms as all their demon enhanced powers were returned back to Phoenextra. With her added powers, Phoenextra grew in size as giant fiery demon-like wings flared behind her back. She turned and looked down on the Exiles below her as her whole body flared with fire.

"Jean, no," Blink whispered as a giant tidal wave of fire came down upon them from the Horseman of Hell.

_**X-Terminators – Earth 116X – Somewhere on the Xavier Estate**_

"First the beam of fire and now S'ym shows up. This can't be good," Beak said as he looked at the large purple demon and his minions surrounding them.

"Who are these S'ym and Dark Child characters?" Mimic asked looking down at his feathered friend.

"From the X-Men history files, Dark Child was the evil form the Illyana Rasputin of this world took and S'ym is one of the demons from Limbo the realm Illyana had been placed in charge of when she was alive.

"Guess no mater what world you go to she is evil," Mimic thought thinking back to the evil Magik he had been forced to deal with back when he had been on the Exiles and a version of Illyana had joined his team.

"Kill them, but I want the girl," S'ym said as he smiled at Storm.

"Storm, behind you," Thor shouted as he released a blast of electricity from his Uru hammer blasting a demon that was leaping at Storm.

"Thanks, but I can handle myself," Storm said as she called on her powers.

The sky grew dark as she called upon a lightening storm. To everyone's surprise, lightening came down but it was fused with fire and out of control. Fire came down hitting everyone, including her fellow X-Terminators. She tried to call of her powers but couldn't do it. Just as the fast as the fire had been called it disappeared thanks to Sunfire pulling the fire within herself, taking control of it and redirecting it at actual demons.

"I can't control my powers. That beam of fire has done something to the atmosphere," Storm said in shock.

"Isn't that a shame," S'ym laughed as he pounced toward Storm.

"Back off foul demon," Thor said as he pressed his belt increasing his strength as he hit the purple demon with an uppercut.

"You think you're tough?" S'ym laughed rubbing his jaw then back handing Thor sending him flying through the trees.

"I really don't like you," Mimic said shifting to steel form, grabbing S'ym by the tail and hoisting him up and sending him flying through the air and smashing into a large tree.

Beak was glad to see some of his old friends and fighting along side them again, but he wished he had his magic hammer. All he could do now was run and avoid the demons that were after him. He jumped and dogged one demon only to be grabbed by another. Soon he found himself being pulled from both ends by two different demons.

"Make a wish," one demon said to the other as they pulled on the bird-like Beak and laughed.

"Unhand him," BattleStar said as he landed behind one of the demons and smashed its head between his fists.

"Thanks, Lamar," Beak said as BattleStar pounded the second demon freeing him from their hold. "If only I still had my magic hammer."

"I do not have my shield. Remember my young friend, a weapon does not make the warrior, this does," BattleStar said pounding his fist to his chest.

"You're right," Beak nodded as he took his new found courage and dived into battle against the demons along side BattleStar.

WizKid moved his battle armor and fired off blast after blast at the demons attacking them. He hated killing, but he noticed that when a demon fell it vanished in a burst of fire and smoke. Keeping that in mind along with the fact they were demons he pushed on without holding back. Ever since the Time Quake saga down in the tunnels his abilities had been fused with a piece of Cerebra. Now, not only could he create things but he could bring them to life with energy. He could feel the strain but he fought on and wouldn't stop till all the demons were gone.

"Nice shooting kid," Sunfire said as she dove into the woods away from her friends.

Her fire powers were not that effective against the demons that lived within a fiery realm. She had another trick up her sleeve but she didn't want the others to see it, least they discover her secret. Once she was far enough she powered down and landed on the ground. Dozens of demons had followed her and circled her laughing. They soon stopped laughing when Sunfire revealed her trick and showed her fangs.

Sunfire let the vampire within take over as her nails became claws and her teeth grew fangs. She knew that this would be the best way to get rid of the demons and satisfy her thirst in one shot. She leapt with great speed and strength as she used her vampire strength to tear the demons in two while feasting on their blood with her fangs. She had never felt more alive and hungry. The demon didn't stand a chance against her pent up hunger she had been suppressing all this time. Now that she was free, she feasted.

"Oh my God," Thor said as he stood there watching.

Sunfire jumped at the voice as she dropped the last of the demons. She turned and saw Thor staring at her in pure terror. She looked around and saw blood and demons everywhere slowly vanishing in burst of fire and smoke. Even though what she had done was vanishing, she still had blood on her hands and face and a witness. Fear of discovery and still powered by the thirst she lunged for Thor.

Thor was unable to move fast enough before Sunfire was on him. Sunfire was suddenly aware of what she was about to do and fought to control her hunger. Thor widened his eyes as Sunfire stuck. Being able to gain control in the last second, Sunfire reached out with the mind gift instead of her fangs. Instead of ripping out his through, she ripped out his recent memory making him forget what he had just seen and fall into unconsciousness.

"Sunfire, what happened? Is he okay?" Storm asked coming through the trees.

"Yes, we barely survived the demon attack," Sunfire said as she shifted back to normal and turned around laying Thor upon the ground. "He's just knocked out."

"Good, let me help you. Most of the demons have been defeated. Once we put an end to S'ym we can head towards the X-Men mansion," Storm said as she moved near her two comrades.

"You're not going anywhere," S'ym snarled as he lashed out and grabbed Storm by the neck.

"Let her go, you can't win this fight," Sunfire said knowing she may have to let lose again.

"Oh, I know when to retreat. I just want my prize before I go," S'ym smiled as he licked the side of Storm's face.

"Hands off her," Mimic said as he burst through the trees and let lose his power.

A powerful concentrated blast came from his eyes as he called on the power of Cyclops. The blast hit the purple demon at his wrist severing it form the arm. S'ym growled in pain as he saw his hand and Storm fall to the ground. Sunfire ran and pulled Storm away from the demon as she pealed and tossed the purple hand aside. S'ym looked at his stump where his hand used to be and then turned to face Mimic.

"You'll pay for that," S'ym snarled.

"Looks like your forces have been exterminated by the X-Terminators," WizKid said as he laughed at his cleverness.

S'ym glanced and saw WizKid, BattleStar and Beak come out of the trees and no other demons in sight. The three newcomers and Mimic had him on one side while Sunfire and Storm stood ready on the other side. He had nowhere to run and knew he would have to stand and fight. He reached under his waist band and pulled out a little device. If he was going out he was going with a bang and taking them with him.

"See ya'll in hell," S'ym smiled as he raised the devise.

"Everyone, watch out," Mimic began to say when S'ym suddenly quit laughing by three loud explosions.

They stood there for a second as S'ym dropped the device and then fell to the ground. Mimic glanced and saw three arrows smoking and sticking out of the demon, one in each eye and the third clean through his throat. They all looked form the dead purple demon to something that was floating up in the air casting a showdown over them.

"No one threatens my husband or my kids," Angel Salvadore said floating in the air holding what looked like a cross between a shot gun and a crossbow.

"Angel, where did you get that?" Barnell asked his better half.

"Something Forge made for me. Said a mother shouldn't be alone in the woods with her kids without protection," Angel smiled as she flew into her man's arms.

"Oh, how I love you," Beak said.

"As do we," BattleStar said smiling at the girl with fly wings.

"What's going on?" Thor asked as he began to come around.

"We defeated S'ym and his army while you were knocked out," Mimic laughed.

"What? How can that be we just left the cabin?" Thor asked rubbing his head.

"Left the cabin? Don't you remember the battle or anything?" Sunfire asked looking at him closely.

"No, I remember leaving the cabin to head up to the X-Mansion and then waking up now," Thor said in confusion.

"The demons must have hit you harder than we thought," Sunfire said as they helped Thor to his feet.

"We're all in one piece, that's what matters. Now we better get up to the X-Men and find out what's going on," Mimic said as the others nodded.

"Angel, go back and keep the kids safe. I'll be back soon," Beak said.

"You better and don't do anything stupid. Return to me," Angel said.

"I will," Beak said as he kissed her and led the X-Terminators up towards where the X-Mansion and the beam of fire were.

_**New Exiles – Earth 116X – Colorado**_

Blink saw the wave of fire coming and knew she didn't have a moment to lose. Calling forth as much of her power as she could she sent out six javelins hitting her teammates as she summoned her powers upon herself. In that instant the wave of fire hit the ground consuming everything. Phoenextra laughed as the smoke cleared and she saw the empty wasteland below.

"They are gone," the Horseman of Hell bragged.

"Not quite," Blink said from behind her.

"No!" Phoenextra swore as she turned to see the Exiles standing behind her. She was ready to let lose her powers when her body froze.

"IT IS TIME!" A voice boomed from the pits of hell.

"No, I'm not ready yet but I must do as you wish, master," Phoenextra said as her body was forced to send a magical wave that sent all the Exiles to slam into the ground below.

"I offer this soul to you, Semaj. All hail the Storm," Phoenextra said as she completed her spell.

"What's going on?" Blink shouted as she was unable to move and in a flash of fiery light Dr. Gamma was encased in a fiery cocoon and shot off into the sky.

"Leonard!" Nocturne shouted after her teammate.

"What did you do to him?" Blink shouted finding she could move again.

"I sent him to New York to be given up as a sacrifice to open the gates for Semaj to come through. Now, I must go to welcome Semaj and the power he brings," Phoenextra said as she ignited her fiery wings and prepared to take flight.

"Not this time, you're evil ends now," Krystalin said as she created a crystal spear with a very sharp point.

Turning her skin into crystal to give added strength to herself she threw the spear with all her might. The spear hit Phoenextra dead in the back piercing her body and protruding out the other side where her heart had been. Jean screamed as fire shot from her eyes and mouth and she hot the ground with a loud boom. Blink moved towards Jean but stepped back as in a wave of pure power Phoenextra exploded leaving behind a crystal spear amongst a pile of ashes. The Horseman was dead.

"Krys," Darklight said looking at the half human, half Skrull.

"I'm sorry but," Krystalin said looking at him and then her teammates.

"It's okay, it had to be done. She had to be stopped," Blink said as she looked down at the pile of ashes.

"You really think she's dead?" Nocturne asked.

"We can only hope. It appears her three cohorts vanquished in her wave of fire she sent at us earlier," Darklight said placing a hand on Krystalin's shoulder while looking at the wasteland they were all standing in.

"Did you hear that voice? Gave me the chills," Power Pack said to Darklight.

"Yeah, it seems that we may have stopped Jean but whatever's caused all this is still coming. We need to get to New York, save Leonard and stop whatever's coming," Blink said as the others agreed.

"But how do we get there in time?" Morph asked becoming a hitchhiker with a sign and big thumb.

"I have an idea," Blink said as they all looked up and saw a plane flying over head and then vanished in a blink of an eye.

_**Epilogue One**_

The empty wasteland sat quiet long after the Exiles had vanished. That quiet soon ended when the ground began to rumble and then explode upwards. A giant electrical sphere moved up and out of the ground and then vanished. Standing in the center of where the sphere had been was Bolt supporting the weight of a barely conscious Black Axe. Bolt sighed as he looked around.

"I wasn't able to save Cyclops, but I guess that just leaves the two of us to make the best of our new home," Bolt said as he slowly dragged Black Axe off into the mountains.

_**Epilogue Two**_

Somewhere, sometime or place sat nothingness. Then a spark of flame appeared burning ever so lightly. The flame sat there for awhile and then split in two and then in three. Now the first flame looked like it had wings sitting next to the other two flames. The three flames began to swirl faster and faster till they erupted into a big bang. After the explosion cleared, you could almost see the faint beginnings of a world being created as a fiery bird faded away into nothingness.

**Next: Issue #18 – Demon Storm Aftermath**

**But first, check out the following issues for the final battles with the other Horsemen of Hell:**

**Salem-X #18 – Demon Storm Part Ten**

**New Exiles #17 – Demon Storm Part Eleven**

**Power Pack #14 – Demon Storm Part Twelve**

**Wild Pack #14 – Demon Storm Part Thirteen (Final Issue)**

**Alpha Squads #14 – Demon Storm Part Fourteen (Final Issue)**

**Mutant Generation Force #15 – Demon Storm Part Fifteen**

**X-Calibur #14 – Demon Storm Part Sixteen**

**Sensational X-Men #14 – Demon Storm Part Seventeen**

**Then Read: Demon Storm #2 – Demon Storm – Part Eighteen – The Conclusion **


	19. Demon Storm Aftermath

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #18 – Demon Storm Aftermath**

_**New Exiles & X-Terminators – Earth 116X – New York**_

Blink and the rest of the Exiles and X-Terminators had retreated to an empty warehouse nearby after the Demon Storm had ended and good part of the clean up had been underway. They would have helped more, but they felt that it may not be wise to get too involved with this world than they already had since it was considered a main reality and last time they were here caused the Time Quake. They also needed a chance to rest and regroup after what they had just been through before deciding their next move.

Blink and her Exile team of Nocturne, Morph, Dr. Gamma, Power Pack, Darklight and Krystalin had found themselves in Colorado of this Earth after something had gone wrong with their Talus. Before they could figure out what their next move would be, they were attacked by their old evil member Phoenix and her remaining Elite team. Not only were they surprised to see that they had survived but Phoenix had then turned into a Horseman of Hell and tried to destroy this Earth. They had to stop her and they did at a price.

Before they had killed her, she had captured Dr. Gamma and sent him to New York to be part of a Sacrifice to bring forth a Demon Storm and its master Semaj. They had gotten to New York but were too late in saving Dr. Gamma or preventing the Demon Storm. In the end, Semaj had been killed and the Storm had been stopped but they had lost not one dear friend but two, Nocturne. One of Semaj's final blasts had killed Nocturne and two Demon Squad members.

Blink knew there was a chance T.J. may have survived but she had yet to show herself and that worried her in the fact that maybe this time she hadn't been able to body jump. With all the time spent on the Exiles, T.J. had become her closest and very best friend. The thought of her not being around bothered her. She knew at any time one of them could be sent home, but you couldn't help but become like family.

Her team had fought well and they had fought along side a group called Salem-X. With their help it didn't take long to defeat the Demon Squad and send them on the run. Well, it didn't help that she had finally used her powers and teleported their leader Lord Sirus to parts unknown. Then after two of their members had been killed by the same blast that had killed Nocturne, the Demon Squad left. The teaming with Salem-X had thrown them off a little.

Along with the Demon Squad, they had to battle one of Salem-X's teammates SilverFlame. SilverFlame was their team's version of Illyana Rasputin and because of Semaj's effects had forced her to become an evil demon. In Blink's line of work, they were always dealing with evil Ilyana's and found it hard not to vanquish her. Luckily their teammate Magnus had managed to take her down with out killing her. She wasn't the only awkward member on Salem-X.

There was a woman named VivaMuerte who was this Earth's version of Dagger, who in his reality was Darklight's mother. Blink had noticed that he was spending a lot of time fighting by her side and talking with her. He had yet to real his identity to her but Blink could tell he wanted to. She saw it in his eyes. This could be his chance to get to know a mother he had never had the chance to know. She warned him that in other realities things don't play out like you want them to, but how could she argue with a man who's only longing for a mother. For now, it wasn't impairing his ability to fight unlike Nocturne's.

The leader of Salem-X turned out to be this realities version of Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch. In the reality that Nocturne came from, Wanda had married Kurt Wagner, the Nightcrawler. Together they had a girl and named her T.J. Wagner or Nocturne as Blink and her team had come to know her. Even though Nocturne hadn't got to visit with the leader of Salem-X, she couldn't help but watch her and become mesmerized by her. That longing to see her mother came back and that distracted her enough that she had been caught in the lethal blow from Semaj.

With the loss of two members of her team, they did have a pleasant surprise. A ship had exploded and a group of heroes had leapt out of it. One group was this realties version of some kind of mutant generation force made up of various mutants. It was the second group that made her heart skip a beat. It was Mimic and his X-Terminators team. She had thought they had been sent home or something and here they were. She was glad to see their familiar faces.

She didn't know Storm and Thor as well but it was great to see Sunfire, WizKid, BattleStar and Mimic again. She was really glad to see both BattleStar and Mimic, but her feelings of torment dwelled within her again. She had fallen in love with Mimic and then he had been sent home and BattleStar had joined their team. During the Time Quake saga, she had developed feelings for Lamar and even saw herself falling in love with him when he died during that mission. Just when she had come to terms with her feelings, the X-Terminators had shown up with both Mimic and BattleStar both alive and well.

She thought she would have to contend with her feelings for both of them until their teams split up after defeating Phoenix and her Elite. Now here they were again, was this fate playing games with her? Just like them, their device malfunctioned and they ended up here with no way to get home. They had run into Beak, which she thought was nice to see again, and they had defeated a hoard of demons in the forest. They had made it up t the X-Mansion to discover it had been destroyed by a beam of fire so they hitched a ride with these mutants to help with the fight.

Now that the fight was over they found themselves in this empty warehouse deciding what their next move would be. Beak was glad to have helped and Calvin thanked him for everything but Barnell couldn't stay. He had a wife and kids to go back and check on so he had departed with the X-Men to head back to Xavier's. WizKid had done the same. As much as he liked adventuring with the Exiles, this was his home and he had been reunited with some old friends, Leech, Meltdown and Rusty. They had all been team members in this reality's X-Terminators. So they said their good-byes to WizKid and Beak as they went with the X-Men.

The rest of her team, Morph and Power Pack were doing well after their battle but Krystalin was feeling a bit out of sorts. She had kicked into pure warrior mode during the Demon Storm and that had scared her as well as Blink. To see such anger made her decide to keep note for the future. The thing that scared Krystalin the most and concerned both Blink and Mimic was what happened to Sunfire. When she had arrived on the scene she had became a vampire and attacked Krystalin.

What none of them had known was that the reason Mariko had survived her apparent death was that she had been bitten and became a vampire on that one reality they had visited as Exiles. All this time she had been hiding it from Calvin and the rest of the X-Terminators. She said her powers made her immune to sunlight other then that she had all the other traits of being a vampire, including the thirst. She had been doing her best to keep it under control but the influence of Semaj forced it out and she had no choice but to attack.

It was a fierce battle between Krys and Sunfire where one was trying to kill while the other tried to defend herself without killing. Sunfire had managed to pin Krystalin and was about to bite her when Krys used her powers to shift her skin to crystal causing Sunfire to scream out in pain as her teeth chipped and her thirst was denied. Krys now in warrior mode flipped Sunfire back and formed a crystal dagger and was ready to steak her when Storm stepped in with a lightening bolt that separated and knocked out the both of them.

They had tied up Sunfire until Semaj was defeated and she reverted back to her senses. Both Blink and Cal had lectured Sunfire on keeping this secret and jeopardizing the safety of the team. Mariko felt bad and was afraid if she told them they might try and kill her. They assured her as ling as she didn't go all evil they would still love her and accept her. They only problem was that the rest of the X-Terminators couldn't trust her now and Krys was avoiding her. Blink knew it would take time for these relationships to mend, but they would.

They had all stood around trying to decide what to do next when Darklight stepped forward and surprised them all with his announcement. He wasn't going to go with them. He wanted to stay behind on this Earth.

"You can't, it's against the rules," Power Pack said.

"She's right, none of us can stay here," Mimic said.

"Yeah, rules set by a group of people we know nothing about. You can't force me to go with you," Darklight said.

"It's because of her isn't it?" Blink said thinking of VivaMuerte from Salem-X.

"It's not that I don't appreciate my time with the Exiles, but I don't have much of a world to return home to," Darklight said.

"But she's not the same person as your mom," Blink said.

"I know and that's why I need to stay. She is the mom I would have had if she would have stayed off the drugs. I have a chance to establish a relationship with my mom I never had. It may not be truly my mom but I've got to try. Plus, I may also have a chance to see and meet the dad I never got to know," Darklight said.

"I hate to see you go," Power Pack pouted.

"As we all will, but I wish you the best," Blink said as she shook his hand.

"You know you may never find a way home," Mimic added.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take and may not even desire," Darklight said as he said his final good-yes, hugged Power Pack and vanished out the warehouse window.

"I'm going to miss him?" Alexis Power said as she stared out the window.

"I agree, so, Caley, what's next for the Exiles and X-Terminators?" Morph said as he became a giant question mark.

"First, don't ever call me that again. Second, most of us are or have been Exiles so there's no need to be two teams. I think we can all agree on being one team, the New Exiles," Calvin said as everyone either nodded in agreement or shrugged with no real preference.

"I like that, is there room for me?" A woman said stepping out of the shadows.

"Who are you," Mimic said as a force grabbed the woman and pinned her to the wall.

"Cal, did you do that?" Blink asked in surprised.

"Yes, I did. Before I had two types of healing powers and a self-healing power and decided I could do away with one of the healing powers. So before we parted ways with the group of mutants we rode with I dropped one of the healing powers and mimicked Hellions telekinesis. Figured it might come in handy," Mimic smiled but then turned back to the woman pinned to the wall.

"You guys, don't you recognize me?" The woman said as she wiggled her fingers and a spell caused Cal to fly back and drop his hold on her.

Everyone prepared for a fight until the woman stepped into the light. The woman was wearing black jeans tucked into blood red ankle boots. She had a sleeveless blouse that was tied up in the front to accent her cleavage and expose her mid-drift and shiny gold belly button ring. She had deep blue skin, glowing yellow eyes and jet black hair that was pulled back and braded into tight dreadlocks that flowed down to the middle of her back. She put her hand on her hip and smiled.

"Nocturne?" Blink asked in what was almost a whisper.

"Yeah, when Jennifer Kale and I died I ended up taking over her body. With her being dead, I waited in the shadows until everyone was gone. Just to help disguise myself I got a new outfit and belly ring. Thanks to my mom I seem to be adapting to magic very easily.

"I can't change my shape but I did manage to shift my skin, eyes and hair color. I think this is about as close to getting my old body back as I'm ever going to get. What do you guys think?" She said with a smile.

"Okay boys, pull in the tongues. You don't see Thor making a scene," Blink said with a bit of jealousy to Mimic and BattleStar as she ran to give her best friend a hug while Thor turned and blushed.

"You too," Krystalin said with a crystal glare at Sunfire as she mouthed an innocent "What?"

"Great to have you back," Morph said as he imitated an old cartoon with eyes popping out of her head.

"Glad to be back," Nocturne smiled as she tried not to eat the attention up too much.

"Now that we're done drooling can we get back to figuring out how to get home?" Storm asked with a little snootiness in her voice.

"She's right, where do we go now? We can't stay here forever," Thor asked as he glanced Mimic's way.

"I think we search out Reed Richards. If anyone can fix our Talus and send us back it's him," Blink said.

"How do we know he'll help us and not kill us?" Power Pack asked still leery about the Earth they were on.

"Because we're on Beak and WizKid's Earth and here Reed's definitely one of the good guys," Mimic said.

"So where do we find this Reed character?" Storm asked.

"Well, if it's like my home the Fantastic Force can be found in the Baxter Building," Power Pack said.

"I think its Fantastic Four, but you're right about the Baxter Building," Mimic said.

"We must find the Four," Morph said as he became the Thing with a giant "4" on his chest.

"So, how are things with you?" Nocturne said stepping back from the discussion and placed her hand on Sunfire's shoulder.

"I'm okay, but incase you haven't heard I'm part vampire now and almost took out my first date when I was forced to turn," Sunfire said as she glanced over at Krystalin.

"Hey, things happen. Heck, I spent a good part of my time trapped in the body of a giant dog. It's not who you are, it's what you do with what life throws at you. Don't worry, if it's meant to be, she'll come back. I'm still holding on to hope I'll find John again," Nocturne said thinking of her one time love and Exile, Thunderbird.

"I know, but controlling the thirst can be hard. I'm so afraid of losing control," Mariko said with a quiver.

"Don't worry, a lot of the old gang is back together and we'll take care of each other," Nocturne said hugging her friend.

"Thanks, it's so good having you back," Sunfire said smiling. "Plus, dang girl, look at you."

"Hey, I miss the pointy ears and such but it'll do," Nocturne said with a laugh as she led her friend back to the group.

"Well, then we're in agreement?" Mimic asked looking at everyone.

"Yes, but I don't know if I like the thought of sleeping on a cold floor," Thor said.

"The sun's going down. We can't just stroll up to the Baxter Building at night. We have a better chance of getting through the front door during the daytime," Blink said.

"You think we'll be safe in here?" Power Pack asked.

"Let me try something," Nocturne said as she felt words form in her mind and she said them waving her hands causing a flashing around the room. "If I did what I think I did, peering in from the outside will only allow you to see an empty warehouse."

"Great, then I can do this," Sunfire said as she gathered some loose materials and used her powers to create a fire.

"All righty then, we sleep here tonight and tomorrow's a new day as we search for a way home," Blink said as she looked at the group settling down around her and the fire. Tomorrow would be a brand new day.

**Next: Issue #19 – "Escape from New York" Part One**

**Plus, don't forget to check out the following issues for the Demon Storm Aftermath:**

**Salem-X #19**

**New Exiles #18**

**Power Pack #15**

**Mutant Generation Force #16**

**X-Calibur #15**

**Sensational X-Men #15**


	20. Escape from New York Part One

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #19 – Escape from New York - Part One**

_**Earth 116X – New York**_

Blink sat on the rooftop of the warehouse as the sun began to rise. She hadn't been able to sleep much so she came up here to think. The sky was so beautiful, now that it was no longer red and raining demons. She knew some of the team didn't trust this world, but she felt almost like home here. What the others really didn't get that this was the main core reality where all other realities steam from. This is the world she would have been living in if Charles Xavier had survived.

Her reality had been what most called the Age of Apocalypse. In her world there wasn't a Xavier to live and form the X-Men and because of that it became a very dark place. What some of these Exiles don't realize is that most of these worlds they have gone to are vacation spots compared to the world she came from. She was getting tired of the reality hoping, but she wasn't that excited about being sent back to her world. Looking down at her Talus she dreamed of just quitting and staying here like Darklight.

Power Pack didn't' want him to leave because she was growing a liking to him. Nocturne and Morph expressed concern of him being left here and causing disruptions to this reality. The Timebroker had stressed how important no one was left behind in any reality they went too, even the dead. That was the whole purpose that Mimic and his team was sent to bring in Phoenix. It still troubled her after hearing from Calvin about the crystal stasis chambers that all the time hoppers are placed in when they died, were supposedly left behind or even thought to be sent home. So was it safe for her to let Ty go?

Blink didn't know, but her gut told her that since this was the core reality it would be safe. She did know, deep down that she couldn't stay. As she looked at the Talus she was drawn back to the Time Brokerage. Before Phoenix had died she had made a comment that she had done something to pay the Timebroker back. The fact that they all got stranded here and that the Talus went into system failure before breaking down and no longer working told her that something bad had happened. She was compelled to find a way back there and see what happened. Who knows what could happen as a result of this or what might be released.

So she had no choice, she and Mimic would lead their pack of Exiles to Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. Once everyone was up and ready they would search and seek out the location of the Baxter Building. It shouldn't be hard to find, for in most realities the Baxter Building in one form or another always resided in New York. She just hoped that Reed would not only be willing to help them but could actually find them a way home. If not they would all be stuck here and that would not be ideal for Power Pack and those who wanted to return home.

Also, there was the problem of duplicate personas walking around like BattleStar, Mimic and a few others that closely resembled heroes here. That could really cause some confusion and problems, which made her see the Timebroker's side of things. This brought her back to the idea of Darklight seeking out this realities version of his parents. Was that wise? She couldn't' dwell on this, first they had to find the way home. After that, she knew were to find him if they decided it unwise to leave him here.

"You're up early," Nocturne said sliding down next to her old friend.

"Couldn't sleep, how are you?" Blink asked looking over at the altered and possessed body of Jennifer Kale.

"For the first time I'm actually feeling pretty good. I hate having to live on in a body of someone I know died but at least this time I look more like my old self than some flea carrier," Nocturne smiled.

"Yeah, but I'm just glad your alive and safe," Blink smiled. "You ever miss home?"

"Yes, I do. When I was first forced to join this team I hated it, but I've grown to think of all of you like family. I don't know what I'd miss most, never getting home or ever seeing you guys again," Nocturne said.

"I know what you mean. I really don't have a home that I truly miss, but it tears me apart thinking of seeing one of you guys go," Blink said.

"Like Calvin?" Nocturne smirked.

"What?" Blink said almost losing her balance on the ledge.

"Please, I know how crushed you were when he was sent home then the look in your eyes when he came back," Nocturne laughed.

"T.J., please," Blink said feeling herself blush.

"Or wait, what about Lamar? I know you guys got very close during the Time Quake and I saw he looked at you when we were all reunited," Nocturne said as she looked Blink right in the eyes.

"Oh look, there's Mariko," Blink said quickly changing the subject.

"Nice save. Now what is our girl up to?" Nocturne said as their teammate now turned vampire came walking slowly out of a dark ally.

"She, my ladies is eating breakfast," Calvin Rankin the Exile known as Mimic said as he approached his two friends.

"How can you be so coy about what she's doing?" Blink asked.

"I blame myself for the events that lead to her being bitten and her apparent death. She is trying to cope with what she's become and I think we should support her and help her like we'd do for any one of our other friends and teammates," Cal said looking at Nocturne.

"That's not what she meant. Of course we support her, but I don't know about her thirst problem," Blink said.

"She is only feeding off vermin. She had promised not to feed off innocent people. If she ever become a problem or poses a threat to us, we will help and deal with her at that time," Mimic said.

"I know, but seeing her during the Demon Storm was kind of scary," Nocturne said.

"Yes, but we've all been there. If Krystalin finding steps to forgive and forget I think we, her friends can do the same," Mimic said.

"Always know just what to say," Blink said as she got up and moved close to him.

"Well, you know," Mimic said testing Blink with their eyes.

"Cal," Blink began to say and then stopped as she heard footsteps.

"Hey, guys. Not interrupting anything am I?" Lamar Hoskins asked as he walked up to the three standing near the roof's edge.

"No, not at all," Blink said quickly as she moved away from Mimic.

"Just hanging out and enjoying the view," Mimic said glaring at Lamar.

"Hey guys, looks like everyone's up," Sunfire said coming up on the roof.

"Mariko, where've you been?" BattleStar asked looking over his shoulder.

"Nowhere, why? I just got up," Sunfire said looking at the staring eyes of her friends.

"Really? Didn't see you downstairs when I got up," BattleStar said.

"We must have missed each other. I got up and went for a fly to stretch out and came back," Sunfire said starting to feel the thirst make her angry at the interrogation.

"So, what's the plan?" Nocturne asked changing the subject.

"We find the Baxter Building," Blink said glad that things were now diverting away from Sunfire.

"You think it's wise for all of us to go? Maybe just a few of us should go so as to not overwhelm Mr. Richards?" BattleStar suggested looking at everyone.

"I don't think it's wise to split up. We should all stick together so not to risk losing anyone or causing unexpected problems," Mimic said.

"As free as most heroes are, going in one big group, especially ours will draw unwanted attention," BattleStar argued.

"We can't risk splitting up," Mimic said raising his voice.

"That's enough you two," Blink said stepping between the two.

"You know I'm right, Clarice," Mimic said not taking his eyes off BattleStar.

"Whatever, what do you think?" BattleStar said looking into Blink's eyes.

"I think you're both right," Blink said.

"What?" Everyone said turning towards Blink.

"We can't split up but we have to blend in," Blink said.

"How do you suppose we do that?" Mimic asked.

"I have an idea," Nocturne said looking at the others and smiling.

_**Interlude – Somewhere in the United States**_

"What do you want, McCoy?" A short fat, four-armed ugly creature asked stepping out of the shadows.

"I think we should form an alliance," McCoy, the beast from another reality known as Dark Beast said with a smirk.

"Why should I? You left me for dead in Genosha at the hands of Callisto and Xavier/Magneto's little band of mutants," the short ugly fat man said baring his teeth and flicking his long dangerous tongue.

"Oh Sugar Man, it was out of my hands. I thought you already dead," Dark Beast said looking at his fellow escapee from the Age of Apocalypse Universe.

"I'm harder to kill than that as I see rumors of your death up in Canada were greatly exaggerated," Sugar Man said. **See last few issues of Alpha Squads**

"Yes, I managed to escape from my cage when the Department H building came crashing down. You see, those of us who survived the Age and came here have not fared to well. Just look at us," Dark Beast said.

"True and Nate Grey is dead and Holocaust vanished from this reality to unknown parts," Sugar Man said.

"He's dead. One of my Morlocks had a gift and foresaw him plucked into another reality with a group called Exiles and died at the hands of something called Hyperion," Dark Beast said.

"So then we are all that is left," Sugar Man glared at the evil McCoy.

"Actually, I caught the Demon Storm battle on a television in New York and you won't believe who I saw," Dark Beast smiled.

"You mean there is another survivor?" Sugar Man asked.

"Yes, the X-Man known as Blink. I did some checking and the group she is with is that reality hoping team called the Exiles," Dark Beast said.

"And you're thinking?" Sugar Man said with a smirk.

"That we need to pay her a little visit. If she has a means of passing into other realities, maybe we can find a way home or a new reality to take control of," Dark Beast smiled baring his teeth.

The Sugar Man just licked his lips and smiled.

_**New York – The Exiles**_

Nocturne looked at her handy work and smiled. She had been practicing and finally mastered a great glamour spell. The spell she cast would cause the illusion that they all looked like normal humans in street clothes. It would only last for a few hours but it should be enough time for them to get to the Baxter Building and see Reed Richards. Since they were the victims of her spell they would see each other as normal but she hoped that the New Yorkers out there, including the Fantastic Four would by it.

"Okay, Alexis and Henry are back," BattleStar said as two figures walked into the warehouse.

Power Pack and Thor had gone out to locate and get directions to the Baxter Building since the two of them came from realities that were the closest to this one geographically. Power Pack didn't need a spell since she could make her costume vanish and street clothes reappear. Thor was Nocturne's genie pig. She practiced on him first till she got the spell right and then sent him out with Power Pack. They weren't gone too long before they arrived back with the directions.

"You didn't have any trouble?" Mimic asked the two.

"Not really. A lot of people are still shook up from the Storm but for the most part people were friendly and helpful," Alexis said.

"How far do we need to go?" Blink asked.

"It's not actually too far from here. We just need to head north for about ten blocks and then we should be able to see a tall building with a 4 on the top of it. That's the Baxter Building," Thor said.

"Well, then we better get going. Sooner we get there the sooner we can get home," Mimic said.

"So we don't look to conspicuous, let's go in a groups of five. Cal, you take your team and start walking and my team will follow a few feet behind. We'll still be close together but not too close to stick out," Blink said as the others agreed.

They headed out and made their way to the Baxter Building. The cool air was chilly and Blink wished that Nocturne could have given them coats along with illusionary makeovers. She watched all around her as they walked and was amazed at the calm mass of people walking to and from their destinations. This world was so much different from her home world. Except for the occasional super hero battle these people really didn't have much to be threatened by. Unlike her world where you always had to look over your shoulder and wander when the end was going to come. She continued to contemplate the advantages of standing here when they soon made it to the front of the Baxter Building.

"Here we are. How should we proceed?" Sunfire said looking at the doors leading into their destination.

"I think we're safe just walking in and asking to see Mr. Richards," Power Pack said.

"Okay, let's go in and try not to draw attention to ourselves," Blink said as she glared at Morph who shifted his shape from the Thing back to his normal form.

As they all entered the Baxter Building a series of alarms went off and strange device began coming out of the floor and walls. The Exiles looked all around them as they soon found themselves surrounded by a giant rocky creature, a man made of fire, a woman with blond hair and a man whose torso was stretching upwards. They had come looking for Reed and had definitely found the Fantastic Four.

"Stop, we can explain. We come in peace looking for Reed," Blink said quickly.

"Yes, you have a lot of explaining to do. Our sensors are reading a cloak of magic around you all and from what we can tell there is a Skrull and a vampire in your group," Mr. Fantastic said eyeing the group.

"That's reason enough for me. It's clobbering time!" The Things shouted as the Fantastic Four advanced on the group of Exiles.

_**Epilogue**_

In the middle of a nice park people went about their business. One such person was Jack Miller. He had finally come to love this park and well as this world. He had been living here about a month or so ever since an experiment went wrong that transported him from his world to this one. It was scary at first and he had no idea how he would ever find his way back home, but he was amazed how easy it was to fit in and call this place home. Jack got up from his bench and began to walk when a strange light began to form in front of him.

The light soon became a large white portal and four figures stepped out. The portal vanished immediately after the last stranger had stepped out. The first figure was a guy in a white suit and hat but as he tilted his head Jack saw that he had no face. It was a blank metallic white. Beside him was a metallic red figure, but by the shape he could tell it was female. The figure on the other side of the man in white was exactly the same except it had a male looking shape and was metallic blue. The last figure was the same but had no defining gender and was metallic black with green numbers scrolling all through its body. Their forms almost reminded him of the Silver Surfer.

The man in white held out his hand and three objects shot out and began to take shape. The objects became large circular robots the color of metallic silver. They floated in the air with no legs and had vacuum like appendages for arms and a strange vacuum like piece with a giant yellow dot in the middle of it extending out from the body acting as a head of sorts. The man in the white suit stepped near Jack and stared with its blank face.

"Time Matrix, report," the being in the white suit asked the metallic black figure.

"This being is not who we are looking for. His name is Jack Miller and he is out of place. He is from Earth-89," Time Matrix said.

"Who are you people?" Jack asked looking for a place to run.

"I am the Time Regulator and we are the Time Task Force. As a last resort protocol when the Time Brokerage was destroyed and agents were forever trapped in this reality, we were activated and sent here. Since we have no way back and they have no way back we must do clean up to keep the balance," Time Regulator said.

"Wait a minute," Jack began to say as he inched to run for his life.

"Time Hunter," Time Regulator nodded to the metallic blue figure.

Time Hunter stepped forward as his arms suddenly shifted and became giant guns. Before Jack could run multiple blasts shot from the metallic guns. Jack didn't have a chance. Jack hit the ground as every shot hit their mark. Time Hunter had succeeded; Jack Miller had been taken out.

"Time Cleaners, hurry," Time Regulator said as the three floating objects went to work.

One Time Cleaner shot a beam from its vacuum hands that caused Jack Miller to disintegrate and vanish from sight. The second Cleaner shot beams form its arms causing any bystanders to forget what they had just witnessed while the third Cleaner's beams repaired the grass and area damaged by Time Hunter's shots. In a matter of seconds it looked like nothing had ever occurred on this spot.

"We must find all the irregularities and eliminate them, starting with the Exiles. Time Hound, lead us to them," Time Regulator said looking at the metallic red figure.

Time Hound held out her hands and closed her eyes. All ten fingers began to extend and form metallic glowing leashes. At the end of the leashes ten red metallic looking hound-like creatures took shape. Time Hound looked down at her finger-like leashes and the vicious hounds attached to them. Time Matrix walked over and downloaded descriptions into Time Hound and then she smiled down at her pets.

"Find them!" Time Hound said as the leashed broke from the hound's necks and they took of in a vicious run.

**Next: Issue #20 – Escape from New York Part - Two**


	21. Escape from New York Part Two

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #20 – Escape from New York - Part Two**

_**Earth 116X –**_

_**Baxter Building – The Exiles **_

"Wait, we can explain," Blink said as she flipped up in the air to avoid a fireball from the Human Torch.

"I bet you can," Thing said as he traded blows with BattleStar. "For someone that looks puny, you sure have a lot of power to your punch."

"Don't let their looks fool you. They are clearly in disguise hiding their true image and powers," Reed said as the man in front of him seemed to stretch in his mock image.

This thought gave Sue an idea. An innocent looking woman was flying at her and Sue called on her powers. She focused her powers of invisibility closely around the woman trying to bend and make the disguise go away from her sight. As the woman got closer her image shifted for a split second. Suddenly Sue found a young Japanese girl with glaring eyes and sharp fangs before her. It was the vampire. Sue jumped back as the images shifted back to the innocent girl.

"You're right dear. They are being disguised by something," Sue said as she threw up a shield causing the woman to slam into it and bounce back.

"You're not the only one with that trick," Mimic said as he invoked one of his five powers causing Sue Richards to lift up and be thrown back against the wall. "We need to stop this senseless battle."

"Suzy-Q!" Johnny Storm said as he turned and blasted the man with a blast of fire.

Mimic hit the wall but was back on his feet without a scratch as his other abilities of healing kicked in and then shifted to steel form that could not be seen at this point by the glamour spell. He fires an optic blast at Human Torch swinging his steel fist at Thing knocking him off Lamar. He then moves near Nocturne. "Shut off the glamour."

"Done," Nocturne says as she concentrates and is finally able to remove the spell early.

The Fantastic Four pause as they stare at the ten figures shimmer and then take on their true forms. There was a woman with purplish skin holding glowing javelins and another woman with blue skin and dreadlocks who almost looked like the late Jennifer Kale. Reed noticed that the stretch guy was now what appeared to be a man with white skin and tended to shape shift. Sue was shocked as a woman suddenly became a young girl with a very seductive green and purple suit. She immediately gave a warning look to her brother.

Johnny gasped as he saw the dark skinned woman that had the facial features of a Skrull. He would automatically have donned her enemy if she didn't hold a strange resemblance to his ex-lover Lyja. Two other figures revealed a man with steel skin and bond hair and the Japanese girl that Sue had already outed as the vampire. It was that final three figures that gave the Fantastic Four the biggest pause. It was only because they recognized them, or so they thought they did.

The first was the man known as Lamar Hoskins, the BattleStar. Reed had no idea why he was running around with this group and attacking the Fantastic Four. He thought that Lamar had gone into retirement. Then there was Henry Pym in a new getup holding a hammer that looked like Thor's. After the Avengers had disbanded, Henry said he was going to devote his life to science. Was he going off the deep end again? Then there was the last member of this group. Sue had to take a second look. It was a young girl but Sue knew her to be that of Ororo Monroe, the X-Man known as Storm. Wasn't she off on some space mission?

"Henry, what is going on here?" Reed asked looking at the Exile known as Thor.

"Yes, I'm Henry, but not the Henry you know," Thor said.

"What is going on here?" Sue asked looking at Reed.

"We are the Exiles. We helped battle the Demon Storm and have found ourselves stuck here in your realty," Mimic said as he began to tell the Fantastic Store their story.

"We only came here to see if you could help us find a way home or back to the Time Brokerage," Blink said finishing the tale and showing them her Talus as well as Mimic's.

"You don't really by this, Stretch?" Ben asked pounding his fist into his hand.

"Actually, I do recognize some of them now and recall some mention of their activities during the Storm from the other heroes.

"Why don't you all come upstairs with us? I'll get you situated while Reed takes a look at your Talus," Sue said as the Exiles all sighed with relief that they had reached an understanding before another hero versus hero battle went too far.

"I hope he can help," Power Pack said as they all followed the Fantastic Four into a series of elevators leading to their base on the upper levels of the Baxter Building.

_**Somewhere in Colorado**_

Chris Bradley, the Phoenix Elite member known as Bolt sat staring out the window while eating his sandwich. After surviving the battle with the Exiles that led to the demise of their leader Phoenix, Chris and Grey Astrovick, the Elite member known as Black Axe had made their way across Colorado. They had no idea where to go or how they would get off this world. Actually, Chris wanted off this world but Grey saw it as an opportunity to take control and rule. For now, either didn't have an answer and stuck together till the answers came.

Chris threw what was left of is sandwich down, the smell of the house's dad owners was getting to him. He hated that Grey had forced him to kill them, but they wouldn't let them in and they were hungry. Of course, they didn't really have a chance to do or say anything. Grey said to step aside, they said no and he swiped them both with his psionic axe. The blows had been too powerful for the old couple and they went into convulsions. Chris had no choice but to blast them and put them out of their misery. So he finished them off, lugged them in side and went to raid the refrigerator.

"So, where's our first stop for world domination?" Chris asked as he walked back into the kitchen.

Grey looked up and stared for a few minutes while he shoveled in spoonfuls of potato salad. He hadn't had a decent meal in ages and he treated this like it might be his last. Once he had finished his plate he washed it down with a soda and then stood up. He still felt week after their battle and naked without his armor. It had been severely destroyed and he had discarded his costume and replaced them with jeans and a shirt from anther house they had ransacked. He didn't mind, since trying to fit in would be needed to move around in this world, for now.

"I normally thought about heading to New York, but I think maybe we should start here. We take over a city and then the state itself. Once we control a whole state we can expand and soon take the country. From there, the world," Grey said as he opened the fridge and grabbed another soda.

"Won't that be a little tough to take on the heroes and military of this world by ourselves?" Chris asked.

"I think I can recreate the Elite and will do so with those of this world. When we're ready to take this state the Elite will be at full power and no one will be able to stop me," Grey said as a flicker of fire went across his eyes.

"Really?" Chris began to ask and wonder how he fit into those plans when a scratching came at the door.

Chris looked at the door and moved closer to get a good listen when the door shattered into a million pieces as two forms forced their way into the house. Chris hit the far wall with his back and staggered a bit as he got to his feet. Grey flew into the living room to see what the commotion was all about and paused at the sight before him. One look and Grey knew that these creatures spelled trouble.

Both creatures were made of some kind of metallic substance and glistened with a very deep red color. They had no distinct features and were completely smooth, but Grey could tell that they were some type of hound. Where they came from or why they were here, he had no idea. Before Grey or Chris could move, they felt a rush of air as it appeared that the metallic hounds had inhaled everything around them. Grey studied them carefully as Chris jumped the gun.

"I hate dogs," Bolt said as he released a bolt of electricity at the hounds.

The hounds stood there watching him as the electricity seemed to do nothing short of causing them to step back a few inches. Feeling mocked, Bolt called forth all his powers and released it on one of the hounds. The hound seemed to quiver as he poured the electricity on. Bolt noticed a hole where a mouth seemed to be opening and Chris focused all his power there and sent the electricity inside the red creature. In a matter of moments, the hound exploded into a million pieces. Chris exhaled as he prepared to face the second hound, but found the creature was long gone.

"Well, guess I showed them," Blot laughed.

"You're an idiot. They weren't here to attack, they were scouting. The other hound left to go report back to whoever sent them here," Grey said as he looked out the hole that was once the front door.

"Oh really, and what makes you say that?" Chris asked.

"That," Grey said as he called forth his tek-shield and created his black and purple psi-axe.

Bolt looked out the front door and saw the red hound leading seven figures towards them at a very fast speed. He could make out a metallic red lady, a metallic blue man, a metallic black with green figure, three metallic silver circular things and a metallic white man with a hat and what appeared to be a blank face. They seemed to have circular discs on their feet which allowed them to float towards them with great speed. For the first time, chills ran up and down Chris' spine.

"I've processed the data from Time Hound's hound. They belong to reality escapees Bolt from Earth-9856 and Black Axe from Earth-102," Time Matrix said.

"It appears there are others besides the Exiles," Time Hunter said.

"Yes, that is why I had Time Hound release all ten hounds. Besides the Exiles, there remain a few other groups connected to them that are here as well," Time Regulator said tipping his hat.

"It appears these two are the last of the Phoenix Elite, if you don't count the one that joined the Exiles," Time Matrix said.

"They must be cleaned from this reality. Time Hunter, if you would?" Time Regulator smiled as the discs vanished and they came to a stand still a few feet from the house Bolt and Black Axe stood in front of.

"You got to be kidding me?" Bolt said as the metallic blue man moved toward them.

Bolt called forth his powers and sent a wave of electricity at the one called Time Hunter. The metallic white figure in the white hat and blank face tipped his hat as the air flickered around the electricity. Chris gawked as his electricity seed to shift and absorb into the Time Hunter instead of strike him. Chris shut off his powers as the Time Hunters hands became giant megaphone looking weapons. A loud boom sounded as a force wave hit and sent Chris and Grey flying back into the house with a chunk of the house exploding inwards with them.

Grey shook his head and was barely able to get to his feet. He looked over and saw Bolt lying on the ground with a wooden plank from the house through his chest. Grey had seen the look more than enough to know Chris was dead. He was sure that if it hadn't been for his tek-shield he would be dead too. As much as Grey wanted to strike back, he was smart enough to know when he was out gunned, especially in his weakened state. He would run for now and when he built up his power and forces he would then get his revenge. Calling on what strength he had left he pushed out and shot into the air and as far away from the metallic creatures as he could get.

"Black Axe has escaped," Time Matrix said looking up into the sky.

"He won't evade us. I have his scent," Time Hound said as she waved her hand that had only four fingers causing the hound to take off in a dead run.

"We'll have time for him later. We must finish here," Time Regulator said as the Time Cleaners erased Bolt, repaired the house, erased the memories of anyone who may had seen them and placed the house owners so when they are discovered they look as to have passed on by natural means.

"I'm getting another scent," Time Hound said as she stared up into nothing, listing to her hounds.

"Then let the hunt continue," Time Regulator said as Time Hound took lead as the Time Task Force mounted their discs and raced off.

_**New York – A Park Not Too Far From the Baxter Building**_

"You think this is wise?" Nocturne asked as she sat under a tree.

"No, but while they figure out a way home I want one last chance to sit back and enjoy the day before we continue on our endless journey," Blink said as Nocturne nodded. T.J. knew that her old friend was growing tired.

It seemed like Reed might have some theories using something called the Negative Zone to help them go home. While Reed, Cal and Henry debated on it, Blink decided she needed some fresh air and had headed to a nearby park. Nocturne, Sunfire, Krystalin, Storm and Power Pack had joined her. It almost seemed like a girl's day out at the park. Krystalin and Sunfire sat on a bench reconnecting while Storm and Power Pack flirted with some local teen boys. It left Blink in the company of one of her best friends.

"So if they fix it, what's the plan?" Nocturne asked.

"Cal and I both agree we need to go straight to the Time Brokerage and find out what went down. If we can believe anything Phoenix said, I'm almost afraid what we might find," Blink said with a sigh.

"What, the place destroyed with no way home or the means to actually go home once and for all?" Nocturne asked with a smirk.

"Both," Blink said not truly knowing which she feared more.

"Storm!" Power Pack screams as causing Nocturne and Blink to turn and see the young Exile being thrown across the park.

Blink jumps to her feet as they see a strange fat man with four arms devouring what appears to be what's left of their teammate, Ororo Monroe the Storm. Nocturne was at a loss for words as Blink stared at the foul creature with shock and surprise. Never in a million years did she think she would ever see the likes of him again. The creature finished his Exile snack and looks right at them, smiling and licking his lips.

"Oh my God, did he just?" Nocturne asked as she tried to comprehend what she had just witnessed and not lose her lunch.

"Yes, he did and I must apologize for my friend's manners. He has always had an odd taste in food. Wouldn't you agree, my dear Clarice?" A man's voice said as Clarice turned in time to see Nocturne backhanded and then feel a strong blow land across the back of her head.

"McCoy!" Blink spat as she looked up in time to see a fury beast hover over her before she blacked out.

**Next: Issue #21 – Escape from New York – Part Three**


	22. Escape from New York Part Three

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #21 – Escape from New York - Part Three**

_**Earth 116X –**_

_**Baxter Building – The Exiles **_

"You know, it sure would be easier if that thing could be removed from your wrist," Reed commented as he looked through his instruments. Henry Pym, the Exile known as Thor was hovering over his shoulder watching, commenting and trying to help where he could.

"I know. The only way they come off is if you die or the Time Broker removes it," Cal said feeling as uncomfortable standing here with his arm shoved into a strange machine. At least he was enjoying the conversation with Reed and filling him in more on the Exiles and all their odd adventures.

"Sounds like they've been to more crazy places than we have," Johnny Storm said as he looked over form the table that he, Ben Grimm, Lamar Hoskins and Morph sat trying not to get too board.

"So, you think you can get us home?" BattleStar asked as he got up and walked over near Reed.

"If there's a way, Reed will find it," Sue said walking back into the room.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. How are the kids?" Reed asked without looking up.

"Safely in their rooms. Here's the shield Reed asked for me to find for you, Lamar," Sue said handing a mechanical looking wrist band to BattleStar.

"What is this?" BattleStar asked as he attached it to his wrist.

"It's a photon based replica of Captain America's shield. Our Captain America used it for a while back in the day," Reed said.

"Cool," Lamar said as he activated the device and a shield formed around his wrist made of a strange energy.

"Yeah, can withstand and absorb heavy impact without any strain on you. You can also fire it off and not worry about it coming back since it just dissipates and reabsorbs back into the device on your wrist," Reed said as he quickly rattled off all its functions.

"Thanks, I really appreciate this. It feels really good to have a shield on my arm again," Lamar said as he waved his arms through the air watching the energy shield glow.

"This is still a lot to get used to. On your world you were the equivalent to our Captain America," Thing said starching his rocky head.

"Yes, it almost bums me out to think my version here didn't turn out the same," Lamar said as he switched off the shield.

"I think we can learn a lot by studying our different versions. Like Henry here. Our Earth's Henry developed Pym Particles that cause the body to either shrink or grow, but you're saying that your Pym Particles cause you to either move at fast speed or gain super strength," Reed said finally removing his focus from his equipment to the others in the room.

"Yes and I've never thought about shrinking or growing. If I ever get back home I'll need to look into the possibility of altering them," Thor said.

"You'll have to see if you can leave a sample here with me so I can do the same for our Pym Particles," Reed said.

"Now do you think that is wise, sharing that kind of information between realities?" Sue asked as she turned lower half invisible and gave Morph a look to warn him to stop staring with bugged out, carton eyes.

"Think of the possibilities of growth and inspiration that we could gain from the knowledge of other realties. I mean, you find a reality that found a cure for cancer and you can save lives here," Reed said.

"True, but think of the damages you could cause too from corruption of power or introducing something evil or deadly upon your world. Trust me, we've seen some bad stuff," Cal said removing his arm and walking towards Reed.

"I would risk all that for the chance to find a better looking Ben and switch them," Human Torch laughed as he dodged a swing from the Thing.

"But maybe there is a Reed out there who's figured out how to cure me," Ben said softly.

"What do you think, Reed? Can you send us home?" Calvin asked as a large commotion caused them all to turn to the entrance into the room.

"We've been attacked," Sunfire said carrying in a very bloody Power Pack.

"What happened?" Cal rushed over with the others.

"Quick, take her from me. You don't know how hard this is for me," Sunfire growled as Lamar's eyes went wide and grabbed the young girl right away as Sue led them to their Sick Bay and placing a call to their in building medical staff.

"What happened? Where are the others?" Thor asked.

"A large furry beast and a strange four-armed creature attacked us. They were after Blink, seemed to know her. They got away with her, T.J. and Krystalin. I would have followed but they had a head start and Alexis here needed medical attention. Krys is badly hurt and if we hurry I can still tack her scent," Sunfire said as her vampire body kicked in and began to heal faster.

"What about Storm? Did they get her too?" Morph asked changing his shape to look like a giant question mark and back.

"The four-arm creature took her by surprise and ate her. There was nothing we could do, it killed Ororo," Sunfire said quietly.

"We need to get moving," Cal said as he began to wonder just what they were up against and why they wanted Blink.

_**Somewhere in Missouri – Squadron Sinister**_

"Stop right there," Mr. Immortal shouted. "U.S. Avengers Attack!"

"Not that I want to complain, but I thought your letter said your team changed to fit my style?" Leather Boy asked as he and his former teammates looked at the campsite that he was told to meet at.

"It has, right Flatman?" Mr. Immortal said and then led the charge down the hill towards the campsite where five figures suddenly gathered.

"Hey don't fill too bad, I was told that we were having a reunion and spending time at Silver Dollar City," Grasshopper said as he hopped after the others.

"I know we stretched the truth a little, but with the Avengers disbanded we needed more help if our 50-State Initiative to travel across the country to make sure each state is safe and protected is going to work. Plus, it is nice to see you again," Flatman said as he moved ahead of Leather Boy.

"Who are these freaks suppose to be?" Ms Marvel asked as the eight strange figures moved at them.

"Must be the local heroes," Daredevil said.

"This is what this Earth's heroes look like?" Vendetta laughed as he eyed the fat woman and squirrel dressed girl came at them.

"When we knocked over that camping lodge, I was sure that we'd be worry free from any real local authority. Guess I was wrong, oh well, kill them," Blue Fire said as his skin turned red as it began to glow with blue colored fire.

"Oh, we've been waiting for this," Deathpool said as his hands morphed, becoming more blade like.

"Surrender now," Mr. Immortal said as he ran at Blue Fire.

"Surrender this," Blue Fire said as he released a wave of blue hellfire at Mr. Immortal causing his burned up corpse to hit the ground.

"Craig!" Big Bertha cried as Dinah Soar screamed at the sight of her lover's death.

"Why does she do that, we all know he always returns," Grasshopper said rolling his eyes.

"But, do you?" Ms. Marvel asked as she lands in front of Grasshopper and grabs him by the throat, lifts him up and crushes his armor along with his neck underneath.

"This will teach me for ever answering personal ads," Leather Boy stared in horror.

"If this is the best this world has to offer I think we may have found our new kingdom," Ms Marvel laughed as she tossed the lifeless hero to the ground.

"You have yet to face me, Squirrel Girl. Monkey Joe, legions of squirrels attack!" Squirrel Girl shouted as hundreds of squirrels swarmed at the evil blond haired woman.

"Get them off me," Carol shouted as she tried to swat off the attacking rodents.

"You always did like rats," Vendetta said as he swung his sword as Doorman.

Doorman closed his eyes and held his breath. Vendetta's sword went right into Doorman as his hand felt the coldness of the darkness. Dane jumped back from the shock as he accidentally let go of his sword and it vanished into Doorman. Doorman was just as shocked. He felt the sword go in and then got a strange tingly feeling. Next thing he knew he was feeling dizzy and then passed out onto the ground.

"Great, freak passes out with my sword stuck inside him somewhere. Wonder if I can rip it out of him?" Dane swore as he called on in magnetic powers.

"Pardon me," Leather Boy bushes as he accidentally backs into and trips Vendetta making him hit the ground hard.

"You'll pay for that," Vendetta says as he stands up and lets loose his magnetic powers, tugging at all the tens around the camp area.

"Great," Leather Boy sighs as dozens of metal tent stakes plunge into his boy from all sides.

"Looks like Mr. Leather here got a few more piercing than he may have wanted," Vendetta laughed.

"Vendetta of Earth-8056, you are here by sentenced for cleaning," a voice says from behind him.

Vendetta turns around to see a metallic black figure with green numbers scrolling within its body staring right at him. A metallic blue man-like figure steps out from behind the black figure and raises his arm. The metallic blue figure's arms shifts and become a harpoon-like weapon. Before Vendetta can react a metallic harpoon shoots right at him. No mater how much he tries, Vendetta is unable to use his powers to keep the harpoon from plunging into his chest. Dane falls to the ground as his reign of terror ends, forever.

"Time Regulator, we have found the reaming members of the displaced team, Squadron Sinister," Time Matrix said as he looked from Time Hunter and his kill and the figures below them.

The remaining members of U.S. Avengers and the Squadron Sinister stop and look at the group that has just arrived and killed Vendetta. Besides the metallic black and the metallic blue figures there are three odd looking metallic silver floating creatures, a metallic red woman with two metallic red looking dogs and a metallic man in a matching white hat and no face.

"What about the others?" The man in white asks.

"They are from this Earth, sir," Time Matrix answers.

"Then leave them, they are no concern of ours. U.S. Avengers, stand down. We are here for the Squadron Sinister and will be on our way once they are cleaned from this reality," Time Regulator said as he looks at the heroes and villains below.

"I want one of those bodies," Deathpool says licking his lips.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Ms. Marvel says to Blue Fire as one of the metallic silver floating things suddenly makes Vendetta disintegrate into nothing by waving a beam of light from it's appendage.

"I think you're right. There's a time to fight and a time to regroup and strategize to live another day," Blue Fire agrees as he notices another one of the metallic silver things starts zipping around hitting on looking campers with beams of light.

With a nod, Blue Fire blasts a beam f Blue Fire causing a distraction that allows Ms. Marvel to grab Deathpool and Daredevil and take flight as he follows right behind. When the fire vanishes, the Time Regulator notices that their prey has taken off and almost out of sight. With a tip of his hat, Time Hound sent her two hounds after the Squadron sinister. Time Regulator then turned back to the U.S. Avengers as Time Hound and Time Hunter raced off in pursuit.

"What are you guys?" Flatman began to ask as he was suddenly blinded by a white light.

"Val, what happened? Where are we?" Ashley the mutant known as Big Bertha asked Flatman.

"I don't know. Last I remember we were meeting Craig here for something," Flatman said as he looked around and then gasped in confusion.

"I think we've been disassembled," Squirrel Girl said as they looked around and saw the dead bodies Mr. Immortal, Doorman, Leather Boy, Grasshopper and Monkey Joe lying nicely on the ground with no sign of a battle anywhere.

_**New York – Deep in an Old Hidden Underground Subway System**_

"Welcome back, my dear," Dark Beast smiled as Blink woke up.

Blink's eyes went wide as she saw the fowl beast from her world. How in the world had he survived? She shouldn't be too that he survived, since her, Creed and Holocaust had both survived that reality. It almost made her wonder who else had survived when she remembered the answer to her question. Sugar Man. With that thought she remembered how he had eaten Storm and began to panic and realized she was tied down on a table and her mouth was gagged with a weird color around her neck.

"Clarice, there is no point to wasting your energy. Your bonds are secure and the inhibiter color around your neck will keep you from using your powers," Dark Beast smiled as he removed her gag.

"What do you want with me and where are my friends?" Blink asked as she tried to look around the room.

"Oh, they are in good hands. Our good friend Sugar Man is taking very good care of them," Dark Beast smiled.

"If you harm any of them I'll," Blink began to argue.

"You'll do what?" McCoy laughed. "Trust me. I have no intention of killing any of them. Well, not until I'm finished with them. They are very resourceful and informative. For starters, the Skrull told me all about your reality hopping missions and how you do it with that device on your arm. First, why don't you tell me how it works and how to remove it form your arm since everything I've tried doesn't seem to do the trick," Dark Beast said as he moved over her and stared down at her right arm.

"Please, once it's on it never comes off unless I'm dead. And if you kill me then you will never get it to work and trust me, I'm not talking," Blink said as she spat at him.

"Oh, Clarice," Dark Beast said wiping the spit form his face and placing his lift paw down on the arm that held the Talus. "I'm pretty sure I have an idea on how to remove that thing from your body without killing you," Dark Beast laughed as he held up a saw with his other hand causing Blink to start screaming.

**Next: Issue #22 – Escape from New York – Part Four**


	23. Escape from New York Part Four

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #22 – Escape from New York - Part Four**

_**Earth 116X –**_

_**New York – Underground Subway System**_

Lamar Hoskins, the BattleStar of Earth-732 moved quickly through the underground tunnel system with his team. When Sunfire and Power Pack had returned with news of the kidnapping of Blink, Nocturne and Krystalin they knew they had to act fast. Especially since the attackers had eaten one of their own, Storm. With Sunfire in the lead using her vampire senses to track them, Thor used his speed powers to maker him and Sunfire move fast while Invisible Woman latched on to them and pulled herself, Thing, Human Torch, Morph and BattleStar from right behind. Power Pack, still injured stayed behind with Reed Richards and Mimic.

Mimic hated staying behind, but he was needed to so that Reed could work on them getting home. Lamar knew that they could use him, but a part of him was glad that he stayed behind so that BattleStar would be the one to come to Blink's rescue. Lamar knew that Mimic and Blink had a great connection, but they had separated when Mimic had left the team. Lamar never expected to find love, but the time he had spent with Clarice during the Time Quake saga had drawn him closer to her and he knew she was falling for him too until he had supposedly died. He wanted her to love him and he hoped he would reach her in time for her to do so.

They had moved as fast as they could but stopped when they came to a fork in the road. One path led to a rust-sealed door to their right and another tunnel way to their left. According to Sunfire, she could smell Nocturne and Krystalin down the tunnel but Blink seemed to be behind the door. Before they could decide what to do, Lamar heard a scream behind the door that sent chills down his spine. They didn't have time for delays.

"Sunfire, take Torch, Morph and Thor and go find Nocturne and Krystalin. Everyone else, follow me," BattleStar said as he ignited his new shield and smashed through the rusted door with all his might.

Blink didn't know why she was screaming, she was tougher than that. Maybe it was the thought of McCoy getting the upper hand on her. Or, like anybody, she didn't want to lose her hand. Just as McCoy lowered the saw, the door in the room exploded inwards as a figure came crashing through. Blink and McCoy stopped and looked over to see who their intruder was.

"You're too late," McCoy laughed as he brought the saw down strong and fast.

Blink closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as she awaited the pain of her arm being sawed away from her body. She was ready to scream when she felt the brief push upon her arm. She quickly opened her eyes in surprise when nothing followed and saw some invisible force keeping the blade from her arm. She noticed the smile leave McCoy's face as the same force rips the saw from his hand and throws it across the room while a shield made of energy smashes into his torso sending him crashing back into the wall and then vanishing. Blink quickly looks to see who her saviors are and smiles with relief.

Standing in the door way was BattleStar and the Invisible Woman. Stepping in from behind them was the rocky form of the Thing. She was glad to see them but it worried her where the others were. Invisible Woman was by her side as BattleStar and Thing engaged Dark Beast. It hadn't taken McCoy long to regain his composer and leap back on his feet. Two to one, those were not very good odds for her comrades. Blink tugged at her collar wanting to get her powers back and gives some payback to McCoy. Mrs. Richards moved next to her and eyed her collar.

"Where are the others?" Blink asked.

"Mimic is back at the Baxter Building working with Reed to fine you a way home. Power Pack is there also recovering from her injuries from the attack. Morph, Sunfire, Thor and my brother went off to find and rescue Nocturne and Krystalin," Sue Richards said as she removed the bonds and freed Blink from the table.

"We need to hurry. Sugar Man is dangerous and they won't stand a chance against him," Blink said with great urgency.

"That Sugar Man gives me the creeps," Sue said with a shudder as she touched the collar around Blink's neck.

"I will make him pay. You can't remove the collar by force. It will detonate upon improper removal," Blink said sighing not only at the loss of Storm but at the thought that Nocturne and Krys were more than likely dead as well.

"Please, you obviously don't know who you're talking to," Sue said with a smile.

Using her powers, Sue placed a force field completely around Blink's body while placing a second one around the collar. Using her might she pulled causing the collar to detonate. Thanks to her force field, Blink was unharmed while the second force field contained the explosion. When the dust settled and the threat was no more, Sue released her force fields freeing Blink and allowing the remains of the collar to fall to the ground.

"Thanks, I feel so much better," Blink said as Sue smiled.

"You may be free, but I'll still rip that device from your arm," Dark Beast said as he leapt up and over Thing using the momentum to push Thing directing into BattleStar.

"Bring it on," Blink shouted as McCoy leapt right at her and Sue.

_**Underground Subway System – A Separate Secluded Room**_

"You better let us go," Nocturne said as she tugged at her bondages.

After being knocked out, Nocturne had awoken to find herself in a dark damp room barely lit by torches on the wall. She saw that Krystalin was sitting next to her. They were both a little banged up but fine. She quickly realized that both their hands and feet were bound together with a very strong rope-like material. She tried to use her powers but realized that they had been neutralized by the inhibiter collar around her neck. None of this scared her. What did scare her was remembering who their captor was and what he had done to poor Ororo.

He immediately bean torturing us as the ugly dark furred beast named McCoy kept drilling them. Nocturne refused to say anything until he told her where Blink and the others were. He claimed to have killed them all but Blink, but would spare her if she talked. Nocturne still refused and endured the scratches from his claws and the lashed from Sugar Mans razor sharp tongue. Krystalin didn't fare as well. Having just heard that the one she loved had been killed had been caught in a weak moment and told them all about the device and their time hopping. After that, she had stood her ground and refused to talk any further and took her lashes as well.

"You're not going anywhere until we learn how that device works," Sugar Man said.

"We'll not tell you anything further, murderer," Krystalin spat at the foul creature.

Krystalin screamed as Sugar Man's tongue sliced open a small cut on her cheek. "Remember, the only thing keeping you alive is McCoy's command. Trust me, once he gets what he needs, I'll enjoy eating you both nice and slow," Sugar Man said licking his lips and smiling.

"If your so hungry, how about a barbeque?" A voice shouts as a blast of fire hits Sugar Man, causing him to leap back against the side wall.

"Marko!" Nocturne shouts with joy as she sees her old friend burn her way into the room.

"You're alive?" Krystalin asks as she tries to manage a smile with all her strength.

"Of course I'm alive, my love," Sunfire says as she uses her powers to burn away the bondages around Krys' arms and feet.

"He said he killed you. The thought of losing you. I'm so glad to see you" Krys said with tears of joy happiness.

"Takes more than that to kill me," Sunfire said as she helps Krys up and then uses her powers to free Nocturne.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance," Sugar Man snarled as he went running at the three women.

"I think you're done, well done," Human Torch laughs as he flies in blasting Sugar Man with another wave of fire.

"The cavalry has arrived," Morph said running in the door looking like a horse with Thor stepping in right after him.

"Great to see you guys, but we have to get to Clarice," Nocturne said as she touched the collar whishing she had her powers.

"Don't worry. BattleStar, Thing and my sister are rescuing her as we speak," Human Torch said as he dives at Sugar Man.

Sugar Man laughs as he whips out his tongue and catches the Human Torch by his ankle. With great force, Sugar Man whips the flaming man to the side and slams him into the wall and letting go with his tongue. Johnny Storm slides to the floor as his flames snuffs out. Sugar Man runs at the winded member of the Fantastic Four with great hunger. In a blur of speed, Human Torch vanishes from the Sugar Man's path.

"He's fine, just a little banged up," Thor says as he puts Johnny down a safe distance from the evil creature.

"Let me help you with those," Morph said turning into a muscle man.

"No, you can't. They are inhibiter collars. If you try to remove them by force they explode," Nocturne said as Morph jumped back with eyes popping out.

"Then let me help with that," Sugar Man said as his tongue whips out and wraps around the collar around Krystalin's neck.

"Krys" they all shouted as they turn at their opponent.

"Stop, make one move and I make her head go boom," Sugar Man muffles with a smile as he tightens his hold on the collar.

"Not this time," Sunfire snapped as her facial features began to change.

With supernatural speed, Sunfire moved at the tongue holding her lover. Before Sugar Man could react, Sunfire opened her mouth revealing vampire fangs and bit clean through Sugar Man's tongue. Sugar Man fall back screaming in pain as blood shot out of the tip of his tongue. Sunfire turned to face the creature, fangs bearing and blood dripping while Krys grabbed the tip of the tongue around her collar and threw it to the ground. Sugar Man bolted out the room as Sunfire leapt after him in hot pursuit.

"Sunfire, wait," Krystalin shouted as she ran after the two.

_**Outside the Southwest Border of New York**_

"I know we've been making good time, but we need to rest," Jen Walters, the Hulk said sitting down in the middle of the grassland they had been crossing.

"We are almost there. We can rest once we get to New York City," Creed, the mutant known as Sabretooth said.

"Can you tell me again why it's so important that we go there?" Logan asked.

"No matter what world you're in, it's always a safe bet there's a Reed Richards," Creed began.

"And where there's a Reed Richards there a way home," Heather Hudson, the Sasquatch said pointing at the Talus on Creed's arm as everyone nodded in understanding.

After the device failed, they found themselves stuck on this Earth. It appeared that their prisoners, the Squadron Sinister had escaped but whether they were on this Earth or not, they did not know. Sabretooth immediately came up with the idea to search out Reed Richards. So now he led his band of Weapon-X across country. They traveled in secret as fast as they could. Creed was thankful that it appeared they were in a pretty normal world so it made it easier to move unseen. Just outside New York, his team had come to a stop and Creed sat down and looked at them.

Beside the female Hulk was Angelica Jones, the Firestar of Earth-7002. Across from them were three old members of the Exiles; John Proudstar the Thunderbird of Earth-6672, Magneto and Rouge's son Magnus from Earth-27 and Heather Hudson, the Sasquatch of Earth-3470. The last of his team, standing off alone was his fellow Weapon-X member Logan, the Wolverine of Earth-172. They were a missed match team, but they had proven well as a fighting team. He would see them all safely home if he could.

"We got trouble," Logan shouted as he lifted his head and looked around.

"What is it? I don't smell anything," Creed said jumping got his feet.

"I can sense something coming, but what ever it is doesn't have a scent," Logan said.

"Guys, look up there," Firestar said pointing behind them as eight figures approached them at a fast pace.

"Please tell me again why we dropped our pursuit and changed course?" Time Regulator asked.

"Time Hound's hound found them down there sir," Time Matrix said.

"Who are they?" Regulator asked.

"They are Weapon-X. Not only are they one of the two prime groups but among them is Sabretooth of Earth-295," Matrix said.

"Yes, but why would he become high priority? We would get them in time," Regulator said.

"Because he wears a Talus which could be used to get off this Earth," Time Matrix said.

"Time Task Force, clean them all but Sabretooth of Earth-295. I want his Talus," Time Regulator said as his team attacked.

"Surrender, Weapon-X. We are the Time Task Force and you have been sentenced to cleaning," Time Matrix said as they moved in closer to the team of reality hoppers.

"Cleaned, you got to be kidding me?" Hulk smirked as ran their attackers.

"Jen, wait," Creed said but was too late. Hulk and Logan were already moving at the eight figures.

Hulk ran at Time Hound and swung her fist at the red metallic woman. Time Hound side stepped and swung her arm out at Hulk. The impact sent Jen flying through the air as all of Weapon-X winced at the sound of ribs cracking. Sabretooth darted towards Jen as two of the circular floating figures got to her before him. One of them shot a beam at Hulk that caused her to instantly disintegrate into nothing while the other figure shot a beam that repaired the area that had been damaged in her crashing down.

"They aren't kidding about cleaning. They mean to wipe us from reality," Thunderbird said.

"Die!" Logan shouted as he brought his claws down on the blue figure.

Logan's claws went right into Time Hunter's chest and stuck there. As Logan tried to free his claws, a gun like weapon formed out of Time Hunter's arm and blew a hole in his chest. Time Hunter brought up his other arm that was now a giant blade. With a quick swipe, Logan's body hit the ground leaving his hands still stuck in Time Hunter's chest. Before Logan's healing factor could kick in, one of the Time Cleaners flew over and erased Logan and his hands from reality.

"They're wiping the floor with us," Sasquatch said.

"We can't get too close. Let me take care of these metal freaks," Magnus said calling on his powers.

"Don't just stand there, do something," Thunderbird said at his teammate.

"I'm trying. My powers of magnetism have no affect on them," Magnus said in amazement.

"I'm getting the feeling these things are connected to the Time Brokerage and why the Talus quit," Creed said.

"Which we will take," Time Hound said has her hand became sharp claws and severed Creed's right arm off right at the end of the Talus.

"You witch," Creed swore as he grabbed his bleeding stump.

Time Hound grabbed the hand with the attached Talus and threw it at Time Regulator. As he caught it, Time Cleaner erased the hand leaving the device alone. Time Regulator held it tight and then placed it in a holder that formed on his waist. "I'll deal with this once we are done with them."

"Creed, allow me," Firestar said as she used her powers to cauterize his bleeding stump.

"Thanks," Creed said as he stood to face Time Hound for revenge.

Time Hound was about to advance when she stopped and faced another approaching figure. It was a red hound that soon shifted and absorbed back into Time Hound's hand. Time Hound quickly raced over to Time Matrix and relayed her data. Time Matrix then turned and faced Time Regulator.

"Regulator, the other prime group, the Exiles appear to be in the Baxter Building. It also appears that this Earth's Reed Richards had developed a way for them to use their Talus to get home," Time Matrix said.

"Very good news. Time Task Force, quickly finish here so we can find the Baxter Building and the Exiles," Time Regulator said.

"Did you hear that? The Exiles are here," Thunderbird said thinking of Nocturne.

"They must have got stranded here too. Seems Clarice had the same idea as me," Creed said.

"We can't fight these guys. We need to get to the Baxter Building and warn them," Sasquatch said.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Heather is right," Magnus said.

"Going to be tough shaking them," Creed said holding his stump and glancing at the figures almost upon them again.

"I'll hold them off," Firestar said as she began to glow.

"Angelica, I can't let you do this," Creed said.

"Creed, I have to. I blew it once with Hyperion. Let me make my amends," Firestar said as two blasts from Time Hunter hit her in the back.

"Angel," Creed began to say as Firestar rose and faced her attackers.

"Creed, don't let her sacrifice be in vain. We need to get to Blink and the others," Sasquatch said as blasts began to hit all around them.

Creed's words faded away as Firestar rose and faced the Time Task Force calling on her powers. Two more blasts hit her in the chest but she held firm and stared Time Hunter straight in the eyes. Blasts continued to bear down on her and her friends. She heard shouts and screaming but didn't have time to see what was happening or who was being injured. She just had to hope that what she was about to do would allow them to escape. Just as Time Hunter let loose on Firestar, the Earth shook as Angelica body flared and went supernova, exploding in a wave of nuclear fire.

**Next: Issue #23 – Escape from New York – Part Five**

**Here is a preview of a mini-series coming soon that will introduce a deadly new villain with shocking ties to the X-Men Universe. **

_**Florida – Miami Hospital**_

"I'll be right back," a beautiful nurse with blond hair says as she steps away from her patient and looks out the exam room's door and into the hallway.

She looks back and forth and sees patients, families and hospital staff running like crazy screaming in a panic. She can hear loud sounds coming from all around. She quickly runs into the hall and stops a RN in a dead run. "What's going on?"

"Evil mutants are attacking the hospital," the RN shouts as he dashes off in a dead run.

The nurse watches him run off and turns round when she hears a loud crushing noise. Soon the wall a few feet down the hall explodes and two figures step through. A few seconds later a figure dressed in red and purple with a matching helmet and cape floats through and rotates facing her. The nurse takes a few steps back as she gasps at who is before her.

"Magneto?" The nurse begins to ask and then realizes that the figure before her is not of a man but of a woman.

"Pyra, Super Sabra, secure the area while I deal with her," the floating woman commands as the other two figures dash off in the other direction.

"What are you suppose to be, Magneta the wanna-be Magneto knock-off?" The nurse laughs as she goes to call on her powers.

"No, I'm someone more deadly than he could ever be," the woman laughed as she hovered closer to the nurse.

"What, why won't my powers work?" The nurse panicked.

"Oh, you can thank my new best friend, Blindspot. While you were examining her she used her memory manipulation powers on you and made you forget how to use your powers," the floating woman laughed as the patient the nurse had just been with walked out into the hallway smiling.

"What do you want from me?" The nurse asked as she tried looking for an escape route.

"Well, my dear Amelia Voght, you were one of Erik's most trusted followers and one time lover and I'm in need of some information," the woman said lowering herself to the ground.

"Over my dead body," Amelia said as she turned and ran.

"That can be arraigned," the woman in the red and purple helmet said as she flicked her wrists causing two hospital beds to fly through the air and pin Amelia to the wall. Amelia screamed as the woman levitated and floated right at her.

_**To be continued in…The New Brotherhood: Blood Ties**_


	24. Escape from New York Part Five

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #23 – Escape from New York - Part Five**

_**Earth 116X –**_

_**New York – Underground Subway System**_

"Sue, watch out!" Blink shouted as Dark Beast leapt at them.

"Not even worried," Sue smiled as she used her powers to throw up a force field around them.

Dark Beast hit the invisible wall and bounced backwards. McCoy was growing furious by the minute and not because he couldn't get his paws around the pink witch's neck, but because he couldn't get the devise around her wrist. He wanted off this Earth and that little silver thing was his one way ticket off of here. He didn't care if he didn't make it back to his home, as long as he had the ability to hop to a world he could make his own. He wanted it and he had to have it.

"Not so tough are ya?" Thing asked as he swung at the dark furred creature.

"It's not how tough you are," McCoy laughed as he flipped up and over the Thing, grabbing his legs and flipping the Thing on his back.

"If he wasn't such a big threat I'd teleport him away, but I need to bring him down once and for all," Blink said as she dove at him.

"You okay, Ben?" Invisible Girl asked as she looked over at her old friend.

"Nothin' hurt but my pride," Thing laughed as he got to his feet.

"You'll never beat me foolish girl," Dark Beast laughs as he grabs Blink by the neck and throws her across the room.

Blink vanishes before she hits the wall and reappears behind McCoy and hits him over the head with a glass jar. Beast hits the floor and immediately whirls around and lunges at the Blink only to smash face first into an invisible force field. As he moved to react he realized he was now sitting in an invisible cage and he lashed out in anger, smashing all his weight to every side.

"Wow, he's got quite a punch to him. I really have to push to contain him," Sue Richards said.

"What's the story with this guy?" Thing asked as he walked up to his sister keeping an eye on the dark version of his friend as BattleStar put his hand on Blink's shoulder.

"He is from the same reality as me. You could call it the Age of Apocalypse, and he was one of Apocalypse's henchmen who experimented on mutants and helped build his army. You see, on my Earth, Charles Xavier was killed trying to save Magneto. Because of Xavier's sacrifice, Magneto comes to believe in his late friend's dream of peaceful co-existence between humans and mutants. Apocalypse, an immortal mutant who has been alive for centuries, he chooses this moment as the perfect time to begin his "survival of the fittest" genetic war.

"Magneto establishes the X-Men, but not until after Apocalypse establishes himself as a major power. Apocalypse comes to rule all of North America, and initiates a worldwide genocidal campaign of "cullings" in which millions of humans die. The few that survive live in parts of Europe and Africa which were not devastated by nuclear weapons. Fleets of Sentinels are their only defense.

"Magneto, as leader of the X-Men, leads a resistance movement against Apocalypse's forces. It was a very dark and evil world to live and survive in. It came to a final battle with Apocalypse where a man named Bishop was to be sent back in time to save Xavier and prevent this time line. I went to the Negative Zone to find help and when I returned I found my world coming to an end and then I was with the Exiles," Blink said giving a cliff notes version of her world.

"Oh, dear Clarice, don't forget to tell them how your hatred for me steams from my experimenting and doing things to you as a child. Oh you were always one of my favorites. You'd be nothing without me," Dark Beast smiles, showing his fangs.

"You son of a," Blink started to say as Thing grabbed and held her back.

"Don't worry, he'll get what's coming to him," BattleStar said as Blink continued to swear at the Dark Beast.

"McCoy, they're free," Sugar Man said barging into the room and knocking Sue over.

Blink turned to see Sugar Man knock over Sue causing her to release Dark Beast. McCoy quickly leaps up and latches onto the ceiling. As Sue get to her feet, Sugar Man jumps off to the side and stares at Blink and then up at McCoy. Before Blink or any of them can make their next move, Sunfire flews through the room right at Sugar Man. Blink notices two things; one, Sugar Man's tongue is hanging out, missing a chunk and slightly bleeding and two, her friend Sunfire is in total vamp mode and has blood in her eyes.

"Mariko, snap out of it," Krystalin says running into the room as Sunfire grabs Sugar Man and they begin to wrestle on the ground for survival.

"Krys, you're okay? Where's T.J.?" Blink asks at the sight of Sunfire and Krystalin.

"She's fine. Thor and the others rescued us, but Mariko flipped out and now wants that creature's life in return for what he's done to me," Krys said as Morph, Human Torch, Nocturne and Thor run into the room.

"We need to contain this situation," Sue says looking at the two creatures fighting.

"I'm on it," Blink says throwing her javelins causing Sunfire and Sugar Man to teleport away from each other.

"I've got her," BattleStar said grabbing Sunfire and fighting to hold her back.

"Let go of me," Sunfire cried as she fought to get free.

"Mariko, honey, please stop. This isn't you," Krys said as she stepped near the fanged out Sunfire.

"I, I," Sunfire began to say as the sight of Krys began to calm her and revert back to normal.

"Well, I know when it's time to part, but be assured, I'll be back for you Clarice," Dark Beast said as he rips a pipe from the ceiling causing hot steam to pour down on the others as he grabs Sugar Man and leaps out of sight.

"They're getting away," Thor says as he protects his eyes from the hot steam.

"Allow me," Sue says putting up a force field around them all to keep them all form being burned alive.

"They're gone, nothing we can do about it. Let's get everyone back to the Baxter Building and see if Reed's found us a way home," Nocturne said as she prepares to tap into her new body's magical abilities and teleport them all home.

"We can't just leave them here on the world," Blink said looking at BattleStar.

"Hey, it seems they've been on this Earth long before us. If this world survived this long with them here, I'm sure it will continue on just as well after we're gone," BattleStar said reaching out for Blink.

"You don't understand," Blink said moving away from BattleStar.

"Lamar is right. You guys need to get home. We can and will make sure they are captured and brought to justice," Sue said.

"Okay, we'll go back and find a way home. Then we can decide about McCoy," Blink said as Nocturne let loose her new magic and they all vanished from sight.

_**Just Outside Manhattan, New York**_

"We have to go back and check for her," Creed said as his skin continued to heal from the heat blast burns it had suffered from.

"We can't. She sacrificed her life to save us. I saw the laser blasts that plowed into their body right before she blew. There's no way she survived that," Heather Hudson said still feeling the pain her alter ego had suffered.

"Well, what about those things that attacked us?" Creed asked looking off into the distance waiting for them to show up.

"If they even survived that last from Angelica, I'm sure they are hundreds of miles away from here. Just look how far we got sent in this direction from the impact of the blast," Magnus said.

"Yeah, thanks to your force field," Thunderbird said clasping him on the back.

"Yeah, I just wished I had been able to get it around Creed and Heather sooner," Magnus said thinking back to the heat blast that had sent them closer to their destination.

As they were raveling they had been attacked by these weird beings calling themselves the Time Task Force. Their mission was to clean them from this reality. Creed was convinced they had something to do with the Talus going offline and the reason they were stuck here. Within the first moments of their attack they had killed and erased Hulk and Wolverine from reality. Then they had severed Sabretooth's arm and taking their Talus for their own. That left a wounded Creed, Firestar, Thunderbird, Magnus and Sasquatch against the Time Task Force.

So far nothing seemed to stop these beings and it looked like there was no way out. That is what Firestar knew and to redeem herself she chose to make the ultimate sacrifice for her friends and teammates. She rose into the air and as she was gunned down went supernova. Sasquatch and Creed were the closest to the blat. Magnus generated a force field around them all but Creed and Sasquatch had taken a first wave hit before he had encased them in safety. The impact of the blast picked up the circular force field and sent it flying at super speed in the opposite direction.

Magnus didn't know how long they had been in flight but suddenly they came to a halt when his field impacted into the ground and stopped. Magnus released the field and saw a sign saying Manhattan City Limits. He turned to see Creed and Sasquatch burned very severely. Creed was already healing but they had to get Sasquatch to convert back to human form so that she would be okay. Heather did this knowing that if she gave enough time to elapse that her beast form would be totally healed when she switched back. They were bruised and they had lost three teammates, but they were safe and hopefully had a great head start on the Time Task Force.

"Don't worry, Heather will be fine and I've even started to grow back my arm," Creed said as a small stump had began to grow where he had cauterized his wound.

"Poor Angelica," Magnus said crossing his arms and looking off into the distance.

"I just hope she took out some of them too," Creed snarled.

"In case they didn't, we better get to the Baxter Building and make what she did count," Thunderbird said thinking of seeing Nocturne again.

"John's right and if what they said is true, we need to get there before Blink and her team leave without us," Creed said as he lead his team quickly north.

_**Many Miles away from New York**_

Black Axe or Grey Astrovick, the mutant son of Jean Grey and Vance Astrovick of Earth-102 sat in a café eating. He was hungry and hated that he had to kill everyone in the place to get a decent meal. He knew it wouldn't be long before the police arrived but he was almost done and he would soon be gone. Now that he was alone he wasn't sure what to do. He had thought about wrecking havoc in this world, and building a new Phoenix Elite but the more he thought about it the move he wanted to return home. There he would be with his partners in crime and could create his Elite there. The question was, how does one get home?

"Well, what do we have here?" A voice asked from behind Grey.

Black Axe jumped to his feet to see four figures walk in. Thanks to the small Phoenix Force left in him after Phoenix and the rest of the Elite had been killed he had the ability to recreate the Elite but also had minor powers available to him, like brief scans of people's minds. He felt the power flare as it skimmed the stranger's minds letting him know that they were also people stuck out of reality and part of a group calling themselves Squadron Sinister. As he looked to each one he pulled their names; Ms Marvel, Deathpool, Daredevil and Blue Fire. He also knew they were evil.

"I was just having a quiet dinner with some friends," Grey smiled as the new comers glanced at the dead staff and patrons.

"We can see that. Too bad you didn't leave anyone to make the rest of us food," Blue Fire said looking around.

"Speak for yourself. We are much happy with the main course," Deathpool smiled as he jumped near a body on the floor and began to munch on it.

"Even for him, he's disgusting," Ms Marvel said trying not to hurl.

"What do you want? If it's a fight then I guess I can make it quick," Black Axe said as purple tek-armor surrounded his body and a blackish purple psi-axe appeared in his hand.

"Oh, we like where this is going," Deathpool said looking up from his meal.

"No, we did not come here to fight. You see, we had an encounter with the same people as you," Blue Fire said looking at the kid.

"The Time Task Force, what's that got to do with me and you all?" Grey asked as his the name had been skimmed of the top of the man's mind.

"You see, we were on our way to New York when we saw them crash land. Not sure what force was actually able to do that to them but they speed off as quickly as they had come," Blue Fire said.

"Still not caring or seeing the point," Black Axe said.

"Well, before they left we heard the tail end of their conversation. The one called Time Regulator said they didn't have time to bother with you that they had to get back to the Baxter Building before the Exiles and Weapon-X found a way home and left," Blue Fire said.

"Exiles and Weapon-X are here and have found a way off this reality," Black Axe said as he almost saw where this conversation was going.

"Yes, and if I combine my powers with yours we can get to the Baxter Building before they do," Blue Fire began.

"And find a way home," Black Axe finished with a smile.

"Yes, and if we manage to kill an Exile or two along the way so be it," Ms Marvel smiled as Blue Fire and Black Axe shook hands and the café erupted in blue and purple power.

_**Baxter Building**_

"So are we going home yet?" Power Pack asked as she walked into the lab.

"Alexis, what are you doing out of bed? I thought you were injured?" Mimic asked walking over to the young member of the Exiles.

"I'm all healed and I did it myself. You see, I was talking with the Richard's son and he was telling my all about the Power Pack of this world. It seems my father and all his siblings are alive here and each has a power. Then he told me about how when they get together they can all heal.

"So Franklin helped me do some in depth research on the group Power Pack here and I go tan idea. If a part of each of their powers is within me, then maybe so is the healing gift. So I concentrated trying to merge all my powers and concentrate on healing. Suddenly I was basked in a huge yellow glow and I was completely healed," Alexis smiled.

"That is great," Mimic said.

"Yeah, but it seems that when I do that it drains my body. According to H.E.R.B.I.E., I have to allow my body to recharge before I can use my powers again at full force," Alexis sighed.

"I did it!" Reed shouted suddenly as the portal ignited into life.

"Did what?" Sue asked as she and the rest of the Exiles and Fantastic Four appeared out of thin air.

"Clarice, T.J., your all okay," Mimic said grabbing and hugging Blink as Power Pack ran and did the same to Nocturne.

"Yeah, but the bad guys got away," BattleStar said glaring at the two hugging.

"We'll get them," Human Torch said.

"So, what did you do, honey?" Sue asked running up to Reed and kissing him on the cheek.

"I got the portal working. As they step into the portal the machine will not fully send them to the Negative Zone. They will phase slightly there but then draw the energy of the Negative Zone into the Talus causing it to come to life with one shot burst. This will send them back to its signal of origin, which would be your Time Brokerage and from there you can find a way to each of your homes," Reed said with a smile.

"That's wonderful," they all cheered.

"Great going Einstein…what's going on?" Human Torch began when the alarms interrupted him.

"Reed, what is it?" Sue asked as her husband's head and arms stretched all over the place hitting buttons and making monitors come to life.

"It seems we have intruders. Four separate alarms have gone off. We are under attack," Reed said as they all glanced at the screens.

"Wait, those at the front door are friends of our. That's Creed and Weapon-X," Blink said looking at her old friend and then at Nocturne who was tearing up at the sight of Thunderbird.

"Look, the second group has landed on the ceiling," Thing said at the strange figures.

"I don't know who they are but it can't be good. Creed's missing his arm with his Talus and that figure with the white hat and blank face seems to be holding the Talus in his hand," Mimic said.

"Third alarm is coming form the west end. Seems a group has smashed through the walls," Reed said activating the defenses.

"I don't believe it. It appears that Black Axe is here with the Squadron Sinister," Mimic and Blink commented.

"We need to move. Weapon X needs our help and those two groups have to be stopped," Nocturne said.

"Sounds like a plan, but haven't you forgotten about the fourth alarm?" A voice laughed as Blink screamed.

They all turned to see Dark Beast propped up on a table holding Blink by the neck with one hand and her arm with the Talus in the other. Sugar Man stood next to him smiling with only a half a tongue flickering out.

"I guess everyone wants to get out of New York, but who will and alive is the fun question isn't it?" McCoy laughed squeezing Blink's neck tight, drawing blood as the Baxter Building Alarms grew louder.

**Next: Issue #24 – Escape from New York – Part Six**

_**Authors Note: The New Brotherhood: Blood Ties #1 is now posted. **_


	25. Escape from New York Part Six

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #24 – Escape from New York - Part Six**

_**Earth 116X –**_

_**Baxter Building**_

"Let her go fowl creature," Mimic shouted as he saw the Dark Beast squeezing the life out of Blink.

"As soon as I have what I want I'll let you have her body back," Dark Beast smiled as Blink grew faint.

"We have to save her," BattleStar said looking at Mimic.

"On my mark. Now!" Mimic shouted as BattleStar ignited his shield.

With great speed BattleStar shot his energy shield at the Dark Beast hitting dead in the chest. Mimic saw that the impact was enough to loosen his grip on Blink just enough for him to call on one of his five powers. Calling forth his telekinesis, he grabbed Blink and yanked her away and across the room with great force. Sue Richards caught her with ease with her invisible shield as Mimic turned on McCoy and unleashed another of his powers with all his might. A powerful optic blast left Mimic's eyes and slammed into Dark Beast sending him into Sugar Man and carrying the two of them into and through the wall behind them. Mimic turned around to see Blink getting to her feet.

"I'm okay. He's altered his nails somehow. When they were in me I felt my powers drain away. When you pulled me free they returned," Blink said rubbing her neck.

"We have to move fast and get all these attackers under control," Thing said as he pounded his fist into his hands.

"I agree. From the look of it I think we need to send the heavy hitters outside. Whoever those beings are that are attacking Weapon X must be bad news if they were able to take the Talus and arm from Creed and take out three of their team," Nocturne said as she saw the unknown figures descend down upon Weapon X.

"Another group needs to head down and take care of Black Axe and what's left of Squadron Sinister," Nocturne said getting her magic ready.

"We can't forget about the two in the next room. We need to get them in custody," Reed said glancing at his wife as he stretched his arms to activate building security and initiating the protective protocols for his children.

"Reed, you will stay here and protect our ticket home while I take care of them once and for all," Blink said as he dashed through the hole in the wall as Mimic swore as the group divided off into teams.

_**Outside the Baxter Building**_

"I have a feeling it won't be so easy getting into the building here," Heather Hudson said as she became the white furred Sasquatch and looked up at the Time Task Force.

"Hopefully our friends inside can lend us a hand," Creed said as he looked at his half grown back arm.

"And if they've already gone home?" Magnus asked as the Time Task Force began to descend from the roof tops.

"Then we go out fighting," Thunderbird said as Creed growled in agreement.

"Give up now Weapon X. You do not belong here and we will clean you from this reality," Time Regulator said as Time Hunter and Time Hound pushed into the lead of the attack.

"Never," Magnus said as he began to fire off energy blasts.

"Will you never learn?" Hunter smirked as the blasts hit their bodies with no effects.

"This should be easy," Time Hunter said as she held up her three fingered hands as six hounds surrounded Weapon X on the ground.

"It seems Firestar's sacrifice was in vain," Sasquatch said as two hounds leapt at her.

"Not necessarily. I noticed our friend in red has only six fingers and six hounds. Four are gone and we have to assume Firestar had a role in that and it shows us that they can be hurt. We just have to find out how," Creed said as a hound slammed into him.

"That is something you'll never discover, because nothing hurts us, unlike you," Hunter said as his arms morph into guns and fire off blasts.

"John!" A woman screams as one of the blasts hit Thunderbird's side and completely rips off his armored plating.

"T.J.?" Thunderbird looks up as he holds his injured side.

Everyone on the battlefield pauses to see the new comers that have just arrived. Coming out of the front door was Mimic followed by Nocturne, Human Torch, Invisible Woman and Thor. Creed was glad to see them, but a part of him had hoped Blink would be among them. Creed used his strength and momentum and sent the Hounds off of him. He just hoped that he would survive this long enough to see Blink and get home.

"What's the story with these guys?" Mimic asked as he sent optic blasts at the members of the Time Task Force.

"They're the Time Task Force. They were sent to erase us from this reality. I thin kit has something to do with my Talus going offline," Creed said.

"That explains why mine and Clarice's quit working too. Seems they got yours," Mimic teased a little.

"Yeah and watch your back. They're meaner than they look. They took out three of my team within moments. One of those floating things has the ability to erase you from existence," Creed said as he dodges a blast from Time Hunter.

"It appears that three more anomalies have arrived," Time Matrix said as he held back with Time Regulator.

"Yes, and two from this world. Sue Richards and Johnny Storm of Earth 116X, please stand down. We are only here to erase the other threats from your world," Time Regulator said.

"We will not allow you to harm them," Sue said as she found it very taxing to fend off Hunter's blasts with her force fields.

"You have been warned. Task Force, do not kill them but you can put them out of commission and our way. We can heal them latter," Time Regulator said as he commanded his forces.

"Are you okay, John?" Nocturne said as she used her magic to send a couple hounds floating back away from her old friend and lover.

"Yes, I'll heal. Is that really you?" Thunderbird asked as he stared at a strange face with familiar blue skin and ears.

"Yes, it seems that I'm now trapped in this body but I've used my new found magic to make me resemble a little of my former self," Nocturne said as Thunderbird kissed her with a long over due passion.

"Less making out and more fighting," Magnus said as he found himself pinned to the ground trying to keep a hound from biting into his neck.

Hoping for the best, Magnus used his powers to click a mechanism in his gloves causing the palm side of his gloves to fade away. As soon as his flesh touched the hound he felt his powers surge from him and into the hound. After the flash he opened his eyes only to sigh in defeat as the Hound was still moving and snapping even harder at his neck.

"Seems my powers had no effect on them," Magnus sighed.

"Maybe not, its hue seems to have changed slightly. Someone hit it hard," Sue said quickly.

"My pleasure," Mimic said as he sent off an optic blast that caused the Hound to shatter into a million pieces upon impact.

"Seems we have an ace in the hole," Creed smiled as the Hound pieces melted into nothing instantly.

"One that wont be able to save you," Hound said in anger as one hand went from three to two fingers.

"What if they had a second ace up their sleeve?" A female voice asked as they all looked up to see a figure made of fire form out of thin air.

"It appears designate Firestar of Earth-3565 has reformed," Time Matrix said as the Firestar went from yellow to white as she attacked.

_**Baxter Building Corridor**_

"We have to move quickly. I sense Reed Richards and only a few others this way," Black Axe said as he did what he could to skim near by minds.

"This is as far as you go. It's clobbering time," Thing said as he, Morph, Power Pack and Krystalin came charging at them.

"Thanks for the warning," Blue Fire said glaring at Black Axe.

"Figured we'd have a little fun before we go home," Black Axe smiled.

"We agree. We are feeling very hungry," Deathpool smiled as he leapt at Power Pack.

"The rest of you are ugly, but Carol?" Thing asked as he looked at the woman who looked like a friend of his.

"Don't let her fool you. She's from another reality and very evil," Morph said as he shifted into a dozen variations of Ms Marvel in a matter of seconds.

"And very powerful," Ms Marvel said a she slammed her fist into Thing sending him through the wall.

"Make this quick," Blue Fire said as blue fire poured from his body and hitting Morph causing him to melt to the ground.

"Stay still, we want to taste you," Deathpool said licking his lips.

"Nasty," Power Pack said as she shrunk down and ran under the creature's legs.

"Time to put a stop to that freak," Krys said as she sends a wave of shards right at Deathpool's neck.

"There's no need to kill," Thing said coming back through the wall.

"No, I'm not killing it. I'm separating the creature from its host," Krys said as the shards finally separated the head from the body.

As soon as the head hit the ground it began to melt and take on a more symbiote appearance. Krys quickly encased it in a crystal casing trapping Deathpool completely inside. They noticed right away that the black alien creature had left the body leaving behind a rotting, headless corpse of Wade Wilson. Thing saw that Krys had been right. The creature just animated the bodies of the dead. He was glad that one had been taken into custody.

"Nice job, Krys," Thing said he returned the favor sending Ms Marvel across the room with one punch.

"Too bad you can't do something about the stench," Morph said reforming with a close pin on his nose.

"Let me try something," Power Pack said as she placed her hands on the body and in a glowing force disintegrated and absorbed the body into nothing.

"I didn't know you could do that," Krys said in surprise.

"Just tried it. I've done a lot of studying on my counterparts here and I think with time and practice there might be more I can do with my powers than I thought," Power Pack said as she whipped around and used her new found energy to land a punch to Daredevil sending him flying back as he tried to sneak up on her.

"You idiot, just don't stand there, do something," Blue Fire shouted at Black Axe.

"I do not take orders from you and I grow tired of your bossiness," Black Axe said as he powers his powers into his psionic axe and slices through Blur Fire's body.

"What?" Blue Fire screams in pain as his blue fire and powers snuff out.

"Painful when my psionic axe cuts through your body, mind and powers," Black Axe laughed.

"I swear I'll kill you," Tony spat as he tried to keep his balance.

"I don't think so. As a matter of fact I think your time is done," Black Axe said as he brought his axe up.

Tony Stark stares in horror as the axe comes down and plunged into the top of his head. Instead of swinging through, Black Axe holds his psionic axe in place leaving it stuck in the man's head. Tony's body convulses for a few seconds before Black Axe pulls it free. Tony drops to both knees, staring off into space as drool runs down the side of his mouth. Black Axe smiles.

"You killed him," Ms Marvel swore as she came flying back into the room.

"No, I just turned him into a vegetable. Now I'll show you how I kill," Black Axe said as his shield and axe vanish as a deep black axe forms in his other hand. He quickly swings it sending Blur Fire's head flying across the room.

"Yeah, but it drains your other powers leaving you vulnerable," Daredevil says as he leaps out and hits Black Axe on the back of the head with his bully club sending him to the ground unconscious.

"Kill him now," Ms Marvel commands.

"There will be no more killing," Thing says as he tackles Ms Marvel.

"Don't worry I'm on it," Krys says as she hits Daredevil with a few crystal pellets knocking him back and then encases his body from the neck down in solid crystal.

"Looks like we got one more to take care of," Power Pack said as she looked over at the Thing and Ms Marvel battling it out.

"Let's go get these back to the others and get you home," Thing says as he lands a knock out punch to Ms Marvel and then slings her over his back.

_**Reed's Lab**_

"I'll kill you, McCoy," Blink swears as she dodges his punch and leaps over him.

"Always the dreamer. I sure miss our special times," McCoy laughs as his taunts anger and blind Blink.

"Don't let him get to you," BattleStar said as he slams into McCoy from behind with his shield knocking him to the ground.

"Now I'll finish him," Blink said as she calls on her powers.

"No, not like that," Reed said as he pushes a button causing an energy field to form around the Dark Beast and trapping him in place.

"Don't worry, I'll get out and then you'll be sorry," McCoy laughs.

"Not as sorry as you'll be," Blink spits back at the evil creature.

"Calm down, Clarice. We have him," BattleStar says as he places a hand on Blink's shoulder only for her to move away and turn towards the other side of the room.

"I'll eat you slowly for what you've done to my tongue," Sugar Man snarled.

"Not if I eat you first," Sunfire mocked as she began to become more vampire like.

Sugar Man whips out his tongue and wraps it around her neck. He begins to chock her as he drags her near him, mouth growing wide showing his sharp teeth. Just as Sunfire is inches from being a meal, she becomes fully vampire and rips the tongue out of Sugar Man's mouth and tosses it aside. She thin sinks her teeth into the side of his neck and begins to drink as Sugar Man screams in true pain for the first time. Before anyone can react, Sunfire's body burst into flame. As she drains the blood and life out of Sugar Man, her powers burn and disintegrate his body away. In moments, the fire fades and Sunfire stands alone with Sugar Man's ashes at her feet and the last of his blood dripping form her fangs.

"Mariko," Blink begins to say in shock as then stops as Sunfire growls and prepares to leap at her.

"I still thirst," Sunfire says in full vampire form.

"I was afraid it would come to this. We need to put her down," BattleStar says as Blink gasps at him.

"We are not going to kill her. She's my friend," Blink swore at BattleStar.

"Friends don't try and drink each other's blood," BattleStar argued.

"Don't worry, I got this," Reed says as an energy cage forms around Sunfire just as she leaps at her two teammates.

"Thanks, Reed. She'll be fine once we calm her down," Blink says as she glares and turns away from BattleStar.

_**Outside the Baxter Building**_

"Firestar, you're alive," Sasquatch says as she watches her teammate fire off fire blasts at the Task Force.

"Yeah, seems my body went through a change when I went supernova. Only thing is that it takes a lot of energy and will power to hold this form together," Firestar says as she turns pure white and releases a powerful wave of white fire that engulfs four of the hounds.

When the fire fades, the four hounds are no where to be seen as Time Hound screams now only having one finger left on her right hand. They all look to see Firestar back to a faint yellow color and barely visible.

"Sorry, that takes a lot out of me. Might be a bit before I have the strength to power up. Taking all I have to barely hold this form together," Firestar said with a struggle.

"Let me help," Sue said as he formed a field around the fiery woman to help hold her together.

"Quite delaying and finish them off," Time Regulator commanded.

"With pleasure," Time Hound growls as nine sharp knife like claws form where her fingers once were.

"Time to even the playing field," Time Hunter says as he fires off a blast from his gun right at Mimic's back.

"Cal, watch out," Thor shouts as he leaps in the way pushing Mimic forward as the blast hits him ripping a huge hole in his back. Thor hits the ground and blood pours from the giant wound.

"You fool, I can heal," Mimic says as he places his hands on his teammate's back and calls forth his healing powers hoping he's not too late.

"No you don't," Time Hound says as she leaps forward and slashes at Mimic.

Mimic falls back as the tips of the blades graze and slice open his chest. Mimic tries to get up as he calls on his self-healing powers and begins to close up the wound. Thor uses what strength he has left and reaches for his Uru hammer. Hound laughs as she slices off his hand and right through the hammer destroying it. Before Mimic can react, Time Hound raises her arms to bring the final blow to Thor.

"No you don't," Magnus says as he lays his open palms on the lady in red's back feeling his power pulse as her tint changes slightly.

"You'll pay for that," Time Hound snarls as she swings around and slices open Magnus's neck with her blade fingers.

"No!" Sasquatch screams at the sight as Mimic fires off an optic blast that hits and shatters Time Hound into a million pieces.

"Hold on, Magnus. I can heal you," Mimic says as he kneels down.

"No, the minute you touch my skin you'll turn to pure steel. Now, quickly my old friend, before I die and it's too late. Take from me the weapon they think they've destroyed," Magnus spat as his blood and life slipped through his fingers.

"I will avenge you," Mimic said as he closed his eyes and called on the portion of his power that was very painful.

"Cal," Thor whispered as he saw Mimic walk towards him with tears in his eyes.

"I can't heal you. My touch no longer heals," Mimic said kneeling down.

"It's okay. I want you to have this. It will last you awhile and boost your arsenal by two more powers," Thor said as he used what strength he had left to pull off his Pym Particle harness.

"Why did you do it?" Mimic pleaded as he took the harness.

"You're the only one with the Talus and means to get home and I could risk the chance you'd survive the blast. Now take the cute face of yours and go kick some Time Task Force butt," Thor smiled weakly and then went still.

Mimic stood up as he placed the harness on himself. He felt dozens of sharp pricks as the harness fastened tightly onto his body. He turned to see the rest of the team barely holding their own against the rest of the Time Task Force. He heard Nocturne scream as Time Hunter hit Thunderbird with another blast that ripped the armor plating off his chest. Sasquatch began throwing cars at Hunter to allow Nocturne time to use her magic to help stabilize her lover's wound. Before Mimic could call out, one of the floating round creatures came up behind Sasquatch and hit her with a blast that instantly disintegrated her from reality while another began using a beam to repair the damaged area.

Slamming his palm against the harness he felt his body pump with Pym Particles. He had a part of two friends in him and he would avenge them and Heather. With new found speed he Mimic was upon the repair Time Cleaner and placed his hand on the creature. He just as quickly moved away as it changed color. Just before moving on he hit it with an optic blast and shattering it into oblivion. He went to move when a blast hit him and sent him to the ground. Thanks to his speed, Hunter's blast hadn't killed him, only wounded him and his healing powers were kicking in fast.

"I don't know how much longer we can hold out, sis," Human Torch said as he began to grow tired from the constant battle and close calls with the Time Cleaner.

"I have to end this now," Firestar said weakly.

"What are you doing? You're not strong enough," Sue said trying to hold on to her and keep the Hunter's blasts at bay.

"Release me, Sue. I have to do this," Firestar said as she raised into the air as Sue releaser her power on her.

Firestar rose into the sky and called on what power she had left to turn what was left of her pure white. Suddenly a large wave of white fire flew through the air and engulfed the remaining members of the Time Task Force. When the light faded, the Time Task Force was nowhere to be seen as well as Firestar. Once again, Firestar had sacrificed herself to save her friends and teammates. Creed took in a deep breath. He was going to miss Angelica. With her sacrifice, Thunderbird was all he had left of his team.

"Better get back in and check on the others," Sue said as they all headed back inside.

Soon everyone was reunited in Reed's lab, even Sunfire had converted back to normal and was free to roam as they swapped tales and mourned the loss of those that had fallen. Blink and Nocturne found it hard to have lost Magnus and Sasquatch again. This tugged at Blink's heart deeply and it didn't help that thanks to Cal's new power she was not able to grab him and hold him like she wanted to. He promised when he had the chance he would give that power up, but not until they were sure that the Time Task Force was gone for good. Blink understood and regrettable kept her distance.

"Well its up and going and you should all be able to move on," Reed said as he powered up the portal device.

"I think you should let us take them in," Sue said pointing at the members of the Squadron Sinister that were in secure cells and the Dark Beast still in his energy cage.

"No, we have to take them with us. They don't belong in this reality and we promise to make them face justice," Mimic said as Blink gritted her teeth at Dark Beast.

"We do appreciate you having our friends laid to rest for us," Blink said about their fallen comrades that Reed and placed in special caskets, after they had said their good-byes, to take and give a proper burial after they had left.

"We wish you luck," Sue said as they all thanked each other once again and made their good-byes with the Fantastic Four.

As they prepared to go, Ms Marvel, playing possum, sprang to life and used her devise from Bishop to blast out of her cell and lunge for Mimic's Talus. Mimic, still powered a little by the speed, sidestepped causing Ms Marvel to accidently collide into the portal. Reed screamed as Ms Marvel's impact caused to devise to surge out of control. Unable to pull free from the surging devise, Ms Marvel screamed as the energy from the portal converted her into energy and absorbed her into the devise killing her. The devise then popped and caused all the power in the building to black out. In seconds the power came back on as the portal powered back up and gave off minor sparks.

"This would be my cue to leave," McCoy said having been freed when his energy cell vanished in the black out.

"Clarice, watch out!" BattleStar called out as Dark Beast grabbed Blink and plunged into the portal. A surge from the portal caused the Talus on Blink's arm to flare for a second and then they both vanished from sight.

"He took her. We have to go after her," Mimic said as he moved towards the portal.

"Wait, you can't go," Reed said.

"Why not?" BattleStar asked.

"That surge from Ms Marvel has thrown off the portal. I would say there's only an eighty percent chance that it will send you back and a fifteen percent chance of sending you somewhere else," Reed explained.

"Wait, that's only ninety-five. What about the other five percent?" Morph said becoming a giant question mark.

"Well, there is a five percent chance you could be vaporized into nothing or get sucked into the Negative Zone," Reed said as everyone began to worry.

"We only have one Talus and I'm going. That think took Clarice and I have to go after her no matter the risks. If you want to stay you all can. I will leave that call up to you all," Mimic said as he declared that he would be taking their prisoners with him also.

"You can't handle them alone and you're going to need help saving Blink. I'm going too," BattleStar said staring at Mimic.

"Where coming too," Nocturne and Thunderbird said.

"You couldn't stop me from saving my girl from that horrible beast," Creed growled.

In a matter of moments everyone had made up their mind to go. It made Mimic proud that they all were going together. He just hoped that he wasn't leading them all to their deaths. With one final good-bye, Nocturne linked them all by magic as they stepped to the portal. Mimic held up his Talus and in a blinding flash they were all gone. Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny sighed with hope for their new friends on their journey home.

"All bodies have been erased," a Time Cleaner said bursting into the room.

"What? I thought they had all been destroyed?" Sue gasped.

"Sorry to disappoint you but we live, thanks to Time Matrix's sacrifice. He absorbed the blast from Firestar and used his powers to teleport us away while he was vaporized. Now, if you don't mind Reed of Earth-116X. We have some fugitives to chase after," Time Regulator said as he stepped into the room with Time Hunter, another Time Cleaner and last remaining hound.

"Hold it right there," Thing began to call out when he was suddenly blinded by a white light.

"Ben, what are you doing up near that platform?" Reed asked of his old friend.

"I don't know. Last I remember I was watching TV then I was in here," Thing said scratching his head.

"They say the mind is the first to go," Johnny laughed as the Thing chased after him.

"Now that you speak of it, I don't know how I got in this room either. It's like a chunk of my memory had been erased," Sue said.

"Like your brother said," Reed began to say as Sue swung at him laughing.

**Next: Issue #25 – What Happend at the Crystal Palace**


	26. Blink Quest Part One

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #25 – Blink Quest – Part One**

_**The Time Brokerage **_

"Man I hate this," Mimic said as the energy, white light and pain vanished leaving him in a dark room. He looked down at his wrist to see the Talus flicker and then go dark.

"Cal, is that you? Did we make it home?" Sunfire's voice came from somewhere in the dark.

"How about I whip up a little light? Illumina!" Nocturne shouted as several glowing orbs appeared and expanded outwards to bring light to the dark.

"We're back at the Time Brokerage, I think," Mimic said looking around at the room.

"What happened here?" Morph asked becoming a large question mark.

"Looks like an atomic bomb went off in here. This place is completely destroyed," Creed said as he sniffed the air.

"That would explain why every Talus went down and our trip had been cut short," Cal said looking at all the shattered crystal chambers and dead bodies of those that weren't empty.

"What are those?" Power Pack asked as she tried not to look scared in front of the others.

"Those are crystal chambers. That's where they keep the live and dead bodies of those that have been sent into other realities. No one ever truly went home," Mimic said as he gave a quick recap about how this place really worked.

"Before we go any further, we need to make sure everyone is accounted for," Creed said as he looked around the orb lighted room.

They did a quick count and found they were all here. Nocturne was with Thunderbird who was healing nicely. Morph, Power Pack, Krystalin, Sunfire all stood not too far from Mimic, BattleStar and Sabretooth. Mimic sighed with relief that they had all made it. Not too far from BattleStar was the crystal trapped bodies of Black Axe and Daredevil along with the encased head of Deathpool. The only one missing was Blink and the Dark Beast.

"You see Blink anywhere?" Mimic asked.

"I don't smell her or McCoy at all," Creed said.

"I don't either," Sunfire said tapping into her vampire senses.

"Then we have to assume that they ended up somewhere or somewhen else," BattleStar said.

"First thing we have to do is see if we can get this system up and running again. It might be able to track and find her," Mimic said as he looked at the fried computer consoles.

"We also need to fins a prison for these three till we can figure out what to do with them," Nocturne said as she cast a sleeping spell to ensure they didn't cause any more trouble.

"If it helps, I was somewhat of a computer geek back home. Maybe I can help fix the system?" Power Pack smiled.

"Great, and if T.J. can dazzle with some magic we just might get somewhere," Mimic said as the three of them got to work on the computer system.

"Look at this," Thunderbird said as Creed, Sunfire and Krystalin stepped closer to the other side of the room where they had seen the faint images of the shattered crystal chambers.

The other side of the room stopped at a railing. There were shattered chambers right in front of them but they could make out more behind, below and above them. Sunfire smiled and rose into the air as she ignited herself in fire. Pushing her powers she was able to extend their line of sight. They all gasped at the sight. There seemed to be no end to the crystal chamber area whichever direction you looked. Not only did it go on forever but every chamber appeared to be shattered and either empty or holding the remains of a dead body.

"There must be millions of those chambers. Do you think they were holding that many people from other realities?" Thunderbird asked to no one in particular.

"It's hard to say, but if what Mimic says is true then to keep things right they had to hold on to a lot of alive as well as dead being or things," Creed said not liking the real story behind their benefactors.

"It just infuriates me that we put our lives on the line based on all their promises of sending us home when they never intended to do it. We were never meant to go home just live forever in a crystal chamber," Sunfire spat with anger.

"Despite the bad news of this place being destroyed, the good news is if we get it working we are in control and will have the power to go home," Thunderbird said as they headed back near the others.

"It seems that this is the only room here. I can't find any entrances or exits anywhere," BattleStar said as he approached the others.

"Okay, we got something here," Power Pack said as she and Nocturne stepped back as the control panel in front of them lit up.

"Well, let's see what we can do," Mimic said as he touched a flashing red light that suddenly caused the whole room to light up.

"Cool, we have light and life support up and running," Nocturne said as she made her light orbs vanish.

"If I'm reading this right, we are the only life forms in this place," Power Pack added.

"Then Blink didn't make it back here," Creed swore.

"Don't worry we'll get this place up and running and then we'll find her," Mimic said.

"Guys, here's a camcorder around this body," Sunfire said near a body hanging from a crystal.

"I don't even want to know why you're snooping around up there," BattleStar glared as he took it from her.

"Let me see that. By the ancient magicks come to life and show us your final sight," Nocturne said as magic released from her body.

The camcorder lifted in the air and came to life. Suddenly a magical beam shot from the lens and played a mini movie for them. They saw the Time Broker and many others that looked like him running around. In the next instant they saw a portal open and saw a great fiery figure form within it.

"Phoenix, I had a feeling this was her doing," BattleStar said as Nocturne nodded in regards the leader of the Phoenix Elite.

They then saw her fade away along with the portal but not before she tossed something through. They saw the men in white panic as the devise exploded sending a powerful white energy fueled with phoenix force. Equipment exploded and people incinerated into nothing as the whole room shock. Then in one final pulse, every crystal chamber shattered as the whole blew and the camera went dark. The camcorder dropped to the ground and broke as Nocturne covered her mouth in a gasp. Thunderbird went to her side and held her.

"That evil witch destroyed this place and killed everyone in it," Nocturne said.

"You almost can't blame her. They wouldn't send her home so she made them pay," Krystalin remarked.

"Still doesn't excuse what she did here," Mimic said turning back to the computer console.

"I wonder what this does." Power Pack said as she fused a few wires together and then pressed a button.

"Initiating repair and reconstruction of the Crystal Palace," a computerized voice boomed from the intercom system.

"I think you did it," Mimic said patting the young girl on her back.

Pink light flared from everywhere as the room shook and things began to self repair. Krys gasped as a beam hit the area with crystal chambers causing the dead bodies to disintegrate as the crystal themselves were fixed and made whole. They all stepped close to each other while what seemed like magic worked all around them. "Systems back online in ten minutes. Then multivese will be recalibrated and the All Realities Monitor and Tracker will be back online in shortly after that," the voice informed.

"All right! We are back in business," BattleStar said as everyone cheered.

"Not if I can help it," Black Axe shouted as his crystal prison shattered from a combination of his tek-shield and psi-axe.

"I don't understand," Nocturne said.

"Not as good with your magic as you think you are. You awoke us instead of putting us to sleep," Black Axe smiled as he used his axe to free Daredevil and Deathpool.

"About time," Daredevil smiled.

"We are so hungry," the symbiote looking creature slurred.

"Give up now, you don't stand a chance against all of us," Creed growled.

"You're right, but we have a better idea," the symbiote said as it moved quickly.

The creature formed a black spear out of itself and sent it at Daredevil piercing his head, killing him instantly. Before the body could drop to the ground, the symbiote leapt on it and merged with it. The symbiote vanished as Daredevil's suit went from red to black. Daredevil's horns in his mask grew sharper as razor sharp teeth reformed the mouth. Daredevil turned towards everyone as black bully clubs formed in each hand.

"You may call us Deathdevil now," the symbiote snarled with laughter.

"Nasty creature, but he at least took out one of his own," Krystalin said as she called on her powers and sent a beam of crystal at the creature.

Deathdevil laughed as a club in one hand shattered the crystal while he threw the other hitting Krys in the head knocking her out. Sunfire screamed and blasted at him ignited in fire. Black Axe flew quickly and sliced his axe through Sunfire's body. Sunfire screamed as she hit the ground, flames snuffed out. The two villains took stance waiting for their next attackers to strike.

"Alexis, you and Nocturne stand guard at the console. Protect it at all costs," Mimic whispered to them as he commanded the others into battle. "Let's put them down."

"I couldn't agree more," Creed said as he leapt at Black Axe.

Creed swiped at the evil mutant with his claws sending Black Axe to the floor. Black Axe looked down to see that his tek-shield had protected him from any harm. Using his mind he took flight and flew back at Creed swinging his axe. Creed moved as Black Axe overshot missing him and hitting the ground behind him. Black Axe got back on his feet quickly.

"Surrender now," BattleStar said firing his shield at the mutant.

"Nice try," Black Axe laughed as he swung his axe, hitting the shield causing it to fizzle and vanish.

"I wasn't aiming for you," BattleStar smiled as the distracted mutant turned to see a steel fist hit him hard in the head sending him to the ground barely conscious.

"Now if we could just finish this one," Morph said becoming Spider-Man and leaping out of the way from Deathdevil's attack.

"We truly hate spiders," Deathdevil snarled as he found himself surrounded by the remaining members of the Exiles.

"All Realities Monitor and Tracker is online. Designate Blink of Earth-295, now searching," the system's voice blared.

"Time for us to catch our dinner," Deathdevil said as he leapt over the heroes and dove into the platform area.

"Danger, portal not stable, warning," the system alarms sounded.

"Stop him," Mimic shouted as Deathdevil pushed Power Pack aside and vanished from sight as the portal shorted and the system screens began to flash.

"We have to go after him and Blink," Creed said as the platform shut off and then began to buzz.

"What's going on?" Mimic asked.

"I don't know. It looks like something is forming over the platform," BattleStar said.

"It's you," Black Axe smiled as the Exiles dove to the ground to avoid a fiery claw that ripped through a white hole, grabbing Black Axe and pulling him back into the hole casing the power to go out as the claw, evil mutant and white hole vanished.

"What happened?" Nocturne asked.

"What ever took Black Axe is gone and it took out our systems in the process," Power Pack said as she started pushing buttons.

"Hurry, we have to find Blink's location again," Mimic said.

"Here we go," Power Pack said as the lights came back on.

"Due to power surge and damages, system will be back online in thirty minutes minutes. Then multivese will be recalibrated and the All Realities Monitor and Tracker will be back online in one hour after that," the voice informed.

"Darn it!" Creed, BattleStar and Mimic swore in unison.

"Don't fear, we'll find her. I won't leave this post till we do," Power Pack said.

"Good news is this place is up and running and the doorway is open. In the meantime we can explore the Crystal Palace," Nocturne said as she walked over to Thunderbird and lead him to a glowing door on the other side of the room.

"Don't' worry, I wont rest till I find you," Mimic said staring over Power Pack's shoulder at the flashing monitor.

**Next: Issue #26 – Blink Quest – Part Two & Outsiders Beginnings: Altered Destinies – Part One **

_**Author's Note: Starting next month, all current titles will start featuring a back up story for a limited time. Here's a teaser list:**_

Salem-X #27 - Featuring Wiccan & the Young Avengers: Will see the formation of the team.

New Exiles # 26 - Featuring Black Axe & the Outsiders: Will tell the origin of the Time Quake World & the Outsiders.

Mutant Generation Force #24 - Featuring the Original New Mutants & the Secret New Mutants: Will tell Moira MacTaggert's secret mutant team's origin and the search for Daken.

Power Pack #23 - Featuring G-Force & the New Warriors: Will see an old foe coming back to hunt down anyone that has been a member of the New Warriors.

X-Calibur #23 - Featuring Lionheart(future) & Black Knight(present day) & the Avengers: Will see the government creating a new Avengers Initiative & sanctioned team.

Sensational X-Men #23 - Featuring Wolverine & Alpha Flight: Will see what happened to the Canadian Heroes after the Demon Storm.


	27. Blink Quest Part Two

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #26 – Blink Quest – Part Two**

_**The Time Brokerage **_

"This place is amazing," Nocturne said as she and Thunderbird looked around.

While Mimic and the others worked on the computer systems, Nocturne and Thunderbird took the opportunity to explore the palace and reconnect. It had been eternity since they have had a chance to be alone together. First Thunderbird died, and then was found alive to only be sent away till now finally they both were together again. Nocturne felt good to have her arm interlocked with her man's again. She smiled as they stepped out of the pink crystal hallway and into a room.

As they stepped into the room, the brightness made them cover their eyes for a brief moment. As the light faded and they were able to see, it seemed as if the room had moved and sifted. They were now standing on a sandy beach leading up to a giant lake that had pink crystal rocks rising up from behind it allowing a giant water fall to plummet from them and into the lake below. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"We should take a dip into the water," Nocturne smiled.

"If we only had swimsuits," Thunderbird said as something flashed to their right.

"I don't believe it," Nocturne said as a table with swimsuits, towels and swimming accessories were suddenly there.

"I don't know about this," Thunderbird said as he realized that Nocturne was already changed and was heading for the water.

"Hurry the water's great," Nocturne called out as she splashed in the water.

Thunderbird dove in and swam to his beloved. He grabbed her in his arms and held her tight, kissing her. Nocturne smiled and began to cry. After everything she had been through and the things she's lost, she never thought she would gain anything again. Now she had John back and a way to return home, so why was she crying?

"What's wrong?" John asked as he pulled back to look into Nocturne's eyes.

"I don't know," Nocturne whispered through tears.

"I know what you're thinking and let me make this clear. Whether you stay here or return home, if you want me, I will follow you where ever you go," Thunderbird said as Nocturne's face lit up as he raised his hand and opened it revealing the item that had appeared on the table of swim stuff.

"John," Nocturne gasped as she held up the pink diamond ring.

"T.J., will you marry me?" John Proudstar asked placing the ring on her finger.

"Yes! Yes!" Nocturne shouted at the top of her lungs as she grabbed Thunderbird with all her might.

"Looks like somebody is taking advantage of the privacy," Sunfire smirked as she heard Nocturne's scream echo through the palace hallways.

"It's good to see some happiness in all this mess," Krystalin said as she stepped into a room.

The room shimmered briefly and soon had Krys looking at a bedroom. The colors were green and purple with an odd shaped bed. Sunfire stepped into the room and saw all kinds of weird artwork and objects that looks very alien in nature. She glanced over and saw a weird joy in her Krys' eyes. She could sense and taste the excitement pouring from the woman's body. It almost made her want to vamp out and grab a hold of it and make it a part of her.

"I don't believe it," Krystalin said.

"What is it?" Sunfire asked.

"This is my old bedroom from when I was a child, but how?" Krys asked looking all around.

"It seems this place may have more to it than we thought," Sunfire smiled, "and gives us what we need." Sunfire then moved towards the bed.

"Mariko, we need to talk," Krys said pulling back.

"What is it?" Sunfire said suddenly not liking what she was sensing from the woman in front of her.

"I have enjoyed the time we've spent together, but it needs to end here. We can be friends but it can never be more than that," Krystalin said.

"What are you talking about? Is it because of the whole vampire thing? That's no different from being a Skrull warrior," Sunfire began to get defensive trying to keep her fangs from showing.

"Yes, the vampire incidents have troubled me, but the part about being half Skrull is the bigger picture here. I'm a born ruthless warrior. Learning who my father was and then ending up with the Exiles had taken me off my game, and then meeting you, which was a nice distraction, was a distraction never the less and has softened me. I need to keep focused and get my mind back in the game now that we have a way to go home," Krys said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Oh, that's what this is about," Sunfire sighed with relief. "I can't return home, not like this. I would be more than willing to return to your world with you. We can still be together."

"No, we can't. I plan on returning home and there will be too much for me to figure out there to deal with our relationship too," Krys said as she paced around her new room.

"What are you talking about? I can help you sort things out. I can be there for you if you let me," Sunfire said as the fear of losing control of what was hers took over.

"No, our relationship would never be accepted," Krys said.

"Why, because we're two women?" Sunfire said as her features began to change.

"No, because you are human," Krys answered.

"Well, so are you," Sunfire spat through her fangs.

"But I can hide it and come across as non-human," Krystalin replied coldly.

"And that's where we finally agree on something," Sunfire growled as she turned, blew the door down with a blast of fire and stormed out of the room.

Krys made a step to follow but stopped when the door suddenly began to repair itself. Yes, the room knew what they needed. Krys sighed when the pink crystal walls pulsed with light and Mimic's voice boomed from all around. "I don't know if this thing is working and you can all hear me or not, but I need everyone to report to the Command Center immediately."

"You think it worked?" Power Pack asked looking at Mimic.

"Yeah," Calvin said as he saw the crew assembling back into the room. "You have a real knack for this. It's like the place has bonded with you. Won't belong before you have everything up and going and you start running the Palace.

"Whatever," Power Pack blushed.

"What's going on?" Nocturne asked as Mimic and everyone noticed the pink rock on her hand.

"Well that explains the screams," Morph said as he became a bridesmaid with a bouquet of flowers.

"Congratulations you two," Mimic smiled as everyone congratulated them.

Mimic noticed that Sunfire had walked in alone and was half vamping out. Her sour mood and not joining in the celebrating told him that something had happened between her and Krys. He glanced over and saw Krys standing off to the other side, no expression on her face. He wondered if he should say something to Mariko, but there were more pressing matters at hand.

"Not that I don't like a happy ending, but we have other things to focus on," Creed said as Mimic nodded.

"Right, well Alexis here has been messing with the system and was able to pull up a grid to track all the Tallus devices in use," Mimic said as Alexis brings up a screen with blinking lights and readouts.

"See, the one that brought us here is registering as damaged and shows it's location as being in the Crystal Palace," Alexis said pointing at the one they put on the counter after it had dropped off when the systems came online.

"There are several Talluses coming up as being out in other realities and some in constant attempt to reach the Time Brokers, which I guess means us now?" Power Pack added with a shrug.

"You mean there are other groups out there stranded?" Thunderbird asked looking at the screen.

"Yes, but that is something we need to look in to and deal with later. We were able to find the one on Blink. It is malfunctioning and we are unable to communicate with it or lock on and pull it back," Mimic said.

"We don't dare attempt to pull her back anymore," Power Pack said,

"Why is that?" Creed asked.

"Because each time we tried, the system backlashes, she jumps to a new reality and one of those crystal chambers fills up," Mimic said pointing at the five crystal chambers directly behind them with a living body within as the others gasped with surprise.

"For now it seems all we can do is track its location and it seems to be continuing to randomly teleport to different realities," Power Pack said.

"Then we can go to her, if we had a working Tallus of our own," BattleStar said as the computer flashed and a more advanced looking version of the Tallus materialized on a side counter.

"I don't believe it," Creed said picking up the Tallus as it immediately latches on his newly grown hand.

"Looks like I'm getting an active connection with it. If my calculations are right, if we go now, I have enough power charged to send six of you directly to Blink before she jumps again. She's currently on Earth-15731," Power Pack said.

"Then we better hurry. God only knows what the Dark Beast has done to her by now," Creed said as he held the Tallus on her arm as he saw the numbers 15731 light up.

"Alexis, you will stay here and man the Crystal Palace System while six of us hop to her reality to rescue her. The three that stay behind will be in charge of freeing and assisting with our new guests and protect the Palace till we get back," Mimic said

"Creed goes since he has the Tallus, as will I," Mimic said.

"I'm going too," BattleStar said.

"Fine," Mimic said not wanting to argue. He needed heavy hitters with him but he also needed someone to stay behind who could protect this place if need be and help with the new guests. He knew for sure, only those with their head in the game should come and not those with issues. Mimic glanced as the huffing half vamped out Sunfire and then made his decision.

"You can't leave me behind, Blink is my dearest friend," Nocturne pleaded after Mimic named the team.

"T.J., you have to see I need you here to help protect out ticket home and help those in the crystal chambers," Mimic said as Nocturne saw his reasoning and hated it and the fact Thunderbird was being taken from her again.

"I have to protect too," Sunfire began to say as Power Pack called out something and Creed's Tallus lit up and a bright white light engulfed six members of the Exiles.

The white light faded as Creed, Mimic, Morph, Krystalin, Thunderbird and a strange woman lying on the ground unconscious appeared in the middle of the forest. "Where's BattleStar and who is that?" Thunderbird asked suddenly.

"I don't know, but I think she was in one of the Crystal Chambers. It might take her a few to wake up from the status," Creed said glancing at the woman.

"There must have been a glitch and Power Pack accidently locked onto the woman in the chamber behind Lamar instead of him," Mimic said with a half grin.

"Creed, do you read me?" Power Pack's voice came from the Tallus.

"Yes, we've arrived safely, but BattleStar isn't with us," Creed responded.

"I know, and boy is he mad. He thinks Mimic pulled this stunt. Anyways, I'm downloading Earth-15731's bio," Power Pack said as the Tallus hummed as the bio displayed in one window as mission objective showed in another.

"What's it say?" Mimic asked.

"Says Blink is here and objective is to find her. It appears the Earth we are on was hit by what they call the White Event on July 22, 1986, 4:22 a.m., EST. Suddenly random people all over the world changed and developed powers and becoming known as Paranormals. It seems through time they were hit by the Black Event that then lead led to the destruction of Pittsburg and The War. It says, wait a minute. What's going on? Alexis, do you copy?" Creed said suddenly changing moods.

"Something out of synch," Power Pack began to say when her voice was replaced by static and the area around them shimmered for a moment making the trees look bigger and older.

"I don't know. Tallus is still online with the Crystal Palace but the communicator went down. Wait, the history bio of this Earth is rewriting right before my eyes. It says Blink is here and the mission objective but the indicator now says Earth- 15731b," Creed said looking up at everyone.

"Put your hands up and don't move," a man shouted as dozens of men in blue clinical looking suits surround them with guns.

"Head Administrator McCoy was right. Therapy Group E did escape. We better get them back to the Clinic," another man said as they moved in on the Exiles.

* * *

_**Outsiders Beginnings**_

_**Altered Destinies – Part One**_

_**Between Reality, Space and Time**_

"Where am I?" Black Axe asked out loud as he looked around in confusion.

He seemed to be hovering in outer space. The only thing that made him question this was that he could breath and sections of space seemed to swirl and change as other areas collapsed in on themselves and re-emerged. Of course what he was seeing was a little more complex than that but it was the easiest way for his human mind to comprehend and explain what was going on all around him. He was trying to remember how he got here when it finally started to come back to him.

He was fighting against the Exiles in some Crystal Palace with the Symbiote and Daredevil. Then the Symbiote that had once been Deathpool killed Daredevil and took over his body becoming Deathdevil. Then Deathdevil leapt into a portal causing the Palace systems to go down while he vanished from sight leaving Black Axe all alone against the Exiles. Just then, a fiery claw came out of nowhere, grabbed him and pulled him though a portal. Everything had gone blank until he awoke where he was now, starring out into unknown space.

"Why did you save me?" Black Axe asked as he suddenly felt her behind him.

"Despite being from different realities, we have the same blood which allows for us to have a great bond and connection to each other. The only reason why, with me gone, you could still harness the Phoenix Force," a fiery figure said moving in front of him.

"Still doesn't explain why I'm here," Black Axe said as the fiery figure in front of him seemed to shift back and forth from the form of Jean Grey and a winged bird.

"You see, the Phoenix Force is a living entity that gives one power. In my final attempt to get home, I managed to use this Force rip reality and bring my Earth back from oblivion and recreate it. In doing so, the living entity within the Phoenix Force died as well as my physical body disintegrating. Now my spirit has merged with this force making me the new Phoenix Force and I can't survive unless I find a host to reside in," Jean Grey the Phoenix Force said.

"So, that's where I come in?" Black Axe asked already knowing the answer and not liking it.

"Yes, because of our blood bond, I can reside in you and survive while giving you great power and also allowing us to be two separate entities in one body," Jean said.

"If I say no?" Black Axe asked.

"Then I will fade away into nothing, and once gone, the power sustaining you will vanish and you will suffocate and die out here in space," Jean said.

"Then I have no choice," Black Axe said as the fiery form plunged into him and within seconds had fully vanished into his body.

Black Axe could feel the power in him as well as a second presence in his mind. Even though he could feel it, he also knew it was not dominating and that he had more control.

"I'm not here to take over. I'm here to give you the power for both of us to survive," Phoenix said inside his mind.

"At least until you find your recreated body or a similar replica to switch to and resume your old life. I can sense your thoughts as well you do mine," Black Axe replied back in his mind with a smirk.

"True, but we both win. You also get your body back to yourself and can find a new start at life on my world," Phoenix said.

"We'll see. So where are we?" Black Axe said as he noticed for the first time that his body was glowing red with a faint fiery outline.

"We are suspended in a point between reality and time. We get to watch as my world is recreated until it reaches the point where I was pulled away and can rejoin," Phoenix said.

"From your memories, wasn't the whole point of your reality being destroyed was to stop the Time Quake. Won't recreating this undo what was saved?" Black Axe asked.

"No, because I found out that the Outsiders are residing in the Crystal Palace, so they aren't fully destroyed. At the moment my world vanishes from existence, there is a brief pause as the Time Brokers pull the Outsiders to the Crystal Chambers before they are completely consumed.

"They did this so they could study these unique ripples. In doing this, they caused a small hole in space before my world fully blinks out of existence. The fact that I happened to be pulled from a reality that no longer exists I obtain an essence of this reality within me that they didn't realize would happen. So within me I have this, plus the Phoenix Force and the energy I stole from the Crystal Palace.

"At that moment of pause, we can release this trinity of power into that hole. This will cause the reality to vanish and save all reality and time like it was suppose to, but will allow me to pull it back through and place it back into existence, continuing at some time after the incident, ripple free and safe with no threats of time quakes," Phoenix said with excitement.

"Yeah, but won't the Time Brokers notice this and come after you or your world since you are doing something that's never been done before and reversing something they helped get rid of?" Black Axe asked.

"They won't be a problem. Let's just say I left a little treat and they are no longer a threat," Phoenix said as Black Axe felt her smiling and seeing the explosion that explained the Exiles and the Crystal Palace better.

"Hey something's happening," Black Axe said as he realized they were floating in space but it was stable with stars and planets and no longer in a state of flux.

"While we were conversing my world has been created and we are at the point in time where the Exiles arrived in my reality. Here they arrive now," Phoenix said as they saw a flash go off and a small vessel appears out of a portal.

At that same moment, a cosmic storm of rays passes behind the Exile ship and though the closing gleam of the portal they came out of. At that moment, a small explosion goes off and the Exile ship vanishes through another portal while altering the color of the cosmic rays. Black Axe watches as the newly changed rays continue on their path through space.

"Where did they go?" Black Axe asked, not really caring but knew he had no choice but to ride this out.

"They time jumped again towards Earth. Those rays, now changed will be the same ones to eventually make their way towards Earth and collide with a ship that creates the Fantastic Four. Since they are altered, the four who are granted powers will be given abilities different from their original intent and the Fantastic Four is never born," Phoenix said.

"And I get to witness it all as you narrate because the knowledge of your realities history combined with the Phoenix Force and Cosmic Awareness and the knowledge obtained from the Time Brokers on how the reality should have been you know all about Earth-116X and Earth-Time Quake," Black Axe mocked as he pulled all that from Phoenix's mind.

"Yes and you must. In order for this to work, you must also know, understand and be one with the creation of the reality we will recreate. Now we must go," Phoenix said as she invokes a power within Black Axe that causes them to teleport through time and space.

"Where are we now," Black Axe asked as he saw them standing on a rainbow bridge.

"We are on the road that allows Asgard the ability to enter Mid-Gard or Earth," Phoenix said as she urges him to look to his right to see a large old man with white whiskers and a much younger man with golden hair.

"I'm very disappointed in you, Thor. It is time you are taught a lesson. Go inside and prepare for a journey," Odin says as his son stomps off back into the realm.

"A little harsh, my Lord?" Balder asked.

"No, it is time he learns some humility. I will banish him to Mid-Gard and place him in the body of a mortal. He will share those memories and remember nothing of being a god or his life here," Odin says as he suddenly stops as a large explosion shakes the bridge.

Black Axe, with help from the Phoenix Force saw the Exile ship appear from a portal. Instantly, another portal opened and an explosion propelled the ship forward and vanishing. Where the ship and portal had been, the rainbow bridge had shattered and began to unravel all the way back to the realm of Asgard. Black Axe watched as Odin and Balder made it to the edge of the realm before the rainbow bridge had completely broken off and vanished away. Screaming in anger and shock, Odin flew back within the realm.

"With that, the rainbow bridge is gone and Asgard has no way to travel to Earth until it is repaired many years later. Thor never comes to Earth and learns to be a great hero and defender of Earth as well as Loki never comes to trigger the formation of the Avengers. Instead, a different reason brings together a somewhat different group of Avengers," Phoenix says as they start flying forwards towards Earth.

"Where are we going now? Aren't we going to jump in time after them?" Black Axe asked as they flew with fiery force.

"Not yet. There is one event we must see first before we move on. The creation of the first ripple and Outsider," Phoenix said as they teleported instantly to arrive before a giant ship that was about to be caught in a cosmic storm.

**Next: Issue #27 – Blink Quest – Part Three & Outsiders Beginnings: Altered Destinies – Part Two **


	28. Blink Quest Part Three

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #27 – Blink Quest – Part Three**

_**The Time Brokerage – The Crystal Palace**_

"Get that system back online. Man, I can't wait to get my hands on Calvin," BattleStar began to swear.

Lamar was mad. He wanted more than anything to go after and find Blink. When Power Pack and activated the jump, Lamar had held his breath and awaited the familiar sensation of being moved from one reality to another, but alas, it never came. He quickly realized that everyone had been teleported but him. He was still standing in the Crystal Palace with Power Pack, Nocturne and Sunfire. As Nocturne commented, they realized that one of the bodies in the crystal chamber was missing. It appeared that this person, whoever it was, had been sent in her place. He knew Calvin had done it on purpose to keep Blink all to himself.

"I can't, some kind of power surge has knocked out communications. According to the grid, they are now on Earth-15731b. Whatever knocked out our power has also side stepped them to a branch of their original location," Power Pack said in panic.

"What caused the surge?" Nocturne asked.

"I don't know. The system is registering something but I can't read it. Until I get communications repaired and figure out what is going on, I don't think I should risk pulling them back," Power Pack said.

"As much as I hate it, you're right. They'll have to fend for themselves for now while we're stuck here," BattleStar grumbled.

"What do we do about these other four here," Sunfire asked as she glanced at the four bodies within the crystal chambers.

"Can you free them or tell who they are or where they are from?" Nocturne asked.

"Releasing Skullfire aka Timothy Fitzgerald from Earth-6375 and former member of X-Men 2099," the computer voice chimed as a figure with red hair, skull mask and black leather pants and jacket fell out of the crystal chamber and onto the floor beside them.

"I smell vampire on him," Sunfire said vamping out a little as the computer continued on.

"Releasing Century aka alien race called the Hodomur from Earth-116X and former member of Force Works," the computer said as a large muscular figure with white hair and red markings all over his body was freed from stasis.

"That guy is from Beak's home world," BattleStar commented at the alien being before them.

"Releasing Khaos aka Petra Maximoff from Earth-5281 and member of the Sisterhood," the computer said as a woman in black and green with long platinum white hair dropped to the floor.

"Name sounds scarier than she looks," Power Pack said as the system released the last figure.

"Releasing Devourer aka Janet Van Dyne from Earth-7756 and member of the Revengers," the computer said as a woman with short hair and a blue and white costume was freed from her crystal prison.

"Where am I and who are all of you? Where is La Lunatica?" Skullfire said suddenly glowing with power.

"You almost look like a man I knew on Earth once," Century said glancing at BattleStar.

"You all better start talking or I swear by the name of my father, Lord Quicksilver that I will kill you all," Khaos said as she glanced around the room.

"Interesting," is all the woman called Devourer said.

"Here let me explain," Power Pack said as she touched a few buttons and the computer system came to life and quickly projected a presentation that gave the new comers all the information they needed to understand the situation and where they were.

"They ability to travel between realities," Devourer whispered as she glanced at the computer system.

"I demand to return home," Khaos spat with anger.

"If you need help moving through realities maybe I can help," Century said as he reached behind him and pulled out his glowing weapon called Parallax.

"We need to get them all under control," Nocturne whispered to BattleStar.

"I agree, but," BattleStar started to say when some kind of alarm began to go off.

"What's going on?" Skullfire said staring at the strangers before him.

"If I'm reading this right, a very powerful energy signature is on a collision course with the Palace and it's the source of the energy surges we experienced," Power Pack said as the screens showed a small glowing object coming straight at them, growing larger as it gets closer.

"Brace yourselves!" BattleStar shouted as the glowing object slammed into the Crystal Palace causing it to shake and explode in a powerful surge of power.

_**Earth-15731b **_

"No sudden moves," a man in blue said to Mimic while pointing a gun at him.

"Where did they get these outfits?" Another man asked allowed.

"They probably robbed the costume shop in town," a third man in blue chuckled.

"I think we can take them," Krystalin said eyeing the men surrounding them with guns.

"No, he said McCoy's name. If we let them apprehend us, they'll take us right to McCoy and Blink," Creed said as he looked from Mimic, Krystalin and Morph and then down at Thunderbird who was helping up the mysterious woman with flaming red hair and a purple spandex type suit that had come with them.

"Where am?" The woman asked looking around.

"How is she?" Creed asked.

"Disoriented, but she'll be okay," Thunderbird answered.

"Stop talking and get moving," the men in blue said as they moved them towards an armored car.

"I'm surprised they don't worry about our abilities," Mimic commented as he moved along.

"Oh, we're not. You see, Regulator here can mentally control all body functions. Receptor here, she is using her powers to help him lock on all of you and you so much as think about using your powers and he'll put you in a world of hurt you've never known," the man in blue with a name tag that says Bloodhound said with laughter.

Soon all six Exiles were in the back of the armored car and being taken to an unknown destination. The men in blue made it clear that they were being "watched" and would be dealt with if they tried to escape. Creed looked over at the woman and saw that she looked a tad frightening as she finally recovered from her crystal prison and reality jumps. He eased her nerves as he quickly explained what was going on, how she got her and who they all were. She took it all in and then smiled a little.

"A little hard to believe but I've heard Mistress Doom talk of such things," the woman said as she introduced herself.

Her name was Mary Jane Parker and she was happily marred to a man named Peter until she discovered he had an alter ego. He was secretly known as Spider-Man the Kingpin of Crime. When she found his costume in his closet and confronted her, he had lashed out and threatened her. She made a run for it and sought out the Masters of Good. Spider-Man was upon her when the Non-Sinister Six had come to her rescue. She felt relieved until Spider-Man's Evil Knights arrived and started making quick work of the six heroes. She didn't know where to turn when another man came to her aid, Chameleon.

Chameleon hooked up a cable looking device to her arm and was going to use his chemicals to help alter her appearance so she could escape and hide. He had just started to administer the treatment when her evil husband snagged him with a web and yanked him into the Non-Sinister Six. Just as he collided with them, one of the Knights ignited a radioactive blast at them and killing them. Surprisingly, the radioactive blast caused a reaction that traveled up the cable still connected to Mary Jane. This resulted in her somehow having all their powers transferred into her. She had no control over them but it was enough to get far enough away until Mistress Doom saved her, took her in and trained her with the rest of the Masters of Good.

"So I took on the name Chameleon and can shift between the six different powers. I was at the courthouse filing my divorce when Peter attacked. Before I could react I woke up here," Mary Jane said as she finished her tale.

"Always hard to imagine an evil Spider-Man," Calvin said as the armored car came to a stop.

"Now, everyone come along nice and slow. Head Administrator McCoy will be waiting for us," the one called Bloodhound said as he led the six prisoners toward a giant white building.

"Welcome home," Receptor said as Creed saw a sign that read "Clinic for Paranormal Research".

"What I don't get is why they keep referring to us as Group E and that we escaped from here when we've never been here," Mimic said to Creed as they entered into the building and found themselves in a large lobby and reception room.

"That's because everyone here does, acts and thinks whatever I want them to," a grim voice said from above them.

"McCoy!" Creed growled as he saw the dark furred creature standing at the top of a stairway with a large man standing next to him.

"Where's Blink? If you've harmed her," Mimic said starting to call on his power.

"Alias, when we ended up here she escaped me. She can't hide forever, but in the meantime I'm having so much fun with these specimens," Dark Beast laughed.

"You're going down," Creed growled as he leapt towards the evil creature.

"Overshadow, if you would," McCoy said as the large man next to him turned all black and spacey and raised his arms out causing the Exiles to drop to the ground in pain as their world came tumbling down and they succumbed to the dark.

* * *

_**Outsiders Beginnings**_

_**Altered Destinies – Part Two**_

_**Earth-Time Quake – Outer Space**_

Black Axe was still getting used to what was happening to him. Not only was he now merged with Jean Howlett the new Phoenix Force, but he had to watch the recreation of the Time Quake Universe and the Outsiders. All this so that Jean's world and be saved and they both can live again on this world. Black Axe hated the idea and the whole situation but he had no choice. To refuse would have meant to be left alone to die in the middle of nowhere. Now here he was watching a massive cosmic storm heading for a giant space ship.

"Come along," Jean said as he felt himself pulled into the ship where he saw for people panicking at the controls.

"Reed, it's moving too fast. The storms going to hit us," Ben Grimm said as he glanced over to the man sitting to his left.

"Sue, you and your brother buckle up tight. This could be a bumpy ride," Reed Richards said as he glanced back at Susie Storm and her Brother Johnny.

"I still can't believe you talked me into coming along sis," Johnny Storm smirked.

"I don't recall twisting your arm. I should never have agreed to this," Sue said as the ship began to shake as the cosmic storm collided with their ship.

"I can feel it burning," Ben said as the comics rays passed through the ship and pounded into and through each of them.

"Hold on everyone. Oh please, don't let any harm come to them. Especially my Susie," Reed said to himself.

"We're losing control of the ship," Ben shouted as the ship felt like it was going to rip apart.

"This is quite boring," Black Axe said as he watched the four people trying to survive the storm.

"Come, the best is yet to come," Jean said as they suddenly found themselves on Earth where moments later a large ship came crashing down before them.

Black Axe watched as the ship hit the Earth and came to a smoky and fiery landing. After a few moments Ben came running out carrying Johnny as Reed came right behind him with Sue in his arms. They made it a good distance before the ship exploded. All four tumbled to the ground and did not move. After what seemed like eternity to Black Axe, the four sat up and stared at the burning ship. They all then looked at each other sighing in relief.

"That was awesome!" Johnny said suddenly.

"Are you crazy? We almost died," Ben grumbled.

"Calm down old man," Johnny laughed.

"Why you," Ben began to argue.

"Alright you two that's enough. Johnny I've about had it with you," Sue began to say when Reed began to scream.

"Reed, what's wrong?" Ben asked as sweat poured off his best friend's brow.

"I feel sick, like my whole body is on fire," Reed cried in pain.

"Maybe it's an after affect of the comic rays," Johnny said as Sue ran to Reed's side.

"Ouch, his skin feels hot," Sue said pulling her hand back after touching Reed.

"What's happening to me?" Reed asked as his whole body suddenly ignited and became a living human torch.

"He's on fire. Ben, Johnny, do something!" Sue screamed as she stepped back from the man of fire.

"Sue, I don't," Ben began to say as his words became nothing but gurgling sounds.

"Ben, what did you say?" Sue asked as she turned and gasped at what she was seeing.

Ben tried to talk as it appeared his skin was melting from his body. Sue watched in horror as Ben's whole body seemed to sag and melt till be became a giant stretched out glob of goop on the ground. Sue wanted to run to his side but between his weird noises and Reed screaming from this fiery body, Sue found she could not move. She didn't know what to do and knew that they were all going to die from the effects of the comics rays. She finally looked for her brother, for help and comfort.

"Johnny, you have to do something. You have to help them. Johnny? Where did you go?" Sue asked as she looked all around and saw that her brother was nowhere in sight.

"Calm down sis, I'm right here. Did you go blind?" Johnny's voice said from in front of her.

"Johnny, I'm not blind. Where are you?" Sue pleaded.

"Suzy, I'm right here in front of you," Johnny's voice came at her.

"Johnny, quit playing games this is serious. Where are you," Sue began to cry.

"Sue," Johnny began to say and then stopped as he peered at the side of the burning ship and saw everyone's reflection but his. "I've faded away."

"Everyone calm down," Reed said as Sue turned to see the man was no longer on fire.

"We're not dying form the rays. They've changed us. We just got to practice and control these abilities," Reed said as he willed his hand to catch fire and then go back out.

"Reed, how did you?" Sue asked as she saw that there wasn't a burn mark on him.

"Ben, imagine pulling yourself together and concentrate really hard," Reed said as they saw Ben slowly pulling himself back together and retake his normal form.

"This is too weird," Ben said as he extended a finger out and then pulled it back in.

"Johnny," Reed started to say when Johnny reappeared before them.

"Already on it," Johnny smiled as he kept vanishing and then coming back.

"It will take awhile but we can learn to use these gifts," Reed started to say and then jumped back giving Sue a horrified look.

"Reed, what's wrong?" Sue asked as she noticed everyone staring at her.

"Sis, something's wrong with your face," Johnny said with fright.

"What?" Sue said as she moved her hands to her face and felt large, hard bumps all over her face.

"Suzy-Q," Been gasped as Sue suddenly screamed with pain as her body began to change.

Her clothes started ripping as her body began to change and grow larger. Sue continued to scream as she watched her hands grow large and very rocky. In a matter of moments Sue Storm was gone and replaced by a large, orange rocky monster. She turned and looked over at thee three men. She could see the horrified look on their faces.

"What happen to me?" Sue asked with fear.

"Calm down Sue, it's your new power. Now concentrate and make it go away," Reed pleaded with hope.

For ten minutes sue tried and was unable to change back. It had come quite clear, that unlike the rest of them, Sue was unable to change back to normal. She had become a giant rocky thing and was stuck in this form forever. She reached out to Reed and he found himself accidently flinching back from her. Sue cried out in hurt and stepped away from Reed.

"I see it. You no longer love me. I hideous monster now," Sue cried as she suddenly turned and took off and with great strength and leaps was gone and out of sight.

"Sis, wait," Johnny cried after her sister but it was too late.

"This is your fault. You have to go after her," Johnny said looking at Reed.

"I'm sorry Johnny. I don't know if there is anything I can do," Reed said with sorrow.

"Fine, I'm out of here. Who needs you?" Johnny said as he vanished from sight and was gone.

"He'll be fine," Reed said as they suddenly heard the sound of sirens and rescue units.

"And with Sue becoming She-Rock the first ripple and Outsider is created," Jean says as Black Axe see the two remaining men become surrounded by rescue teams and security units.

"So why should that matter really?" Black Axe asked.

"With Reed not rejecting his love from her, she goes off to hide in the Colorado Mountains. This causes her brother to have no family and to end up alone and on the streets. Without guidance he slowly becomes a super powered thief. Thus, the Fantastic Four is never formed and Reed and Ben get taken in my Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. to be studied and trained.

"Reed will stay and try to find Sue and Johnny but Ben quickly hates the agency and immediately walks away and eventually makes his way to become a part of a different type of team," Jean says as they turn away from the birth and the death of the Fantastic Four.

"What a wonderful tale. So now where?" Black Axe mocked.

"We jump ahead a year and catch up with the Exiles as they create the final series of events that will lead to the next few ripples and Outsiders and the unstoppable path towards the Time Quake," Jean says as they suddenly vanish towards their next stop.

**Next: Issue #28 – Blink Quest – Part Four & Outsiders Beginnings: Altered Destinies – Part Three **


	29. Blink Quest Part Four

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #28 – Blink Quest – Part Four**

_**Earth-15731b **_

_**The Clinic for Paranormal Research**_

"Welcome everyone. I'm glad everyone made it here on time today. We have a few new members to our group so let's go around and introduce ourselves. We'll start from might right and go around. I'm Dr. Jane Semple," the older lady in a white coat said as she nodded at the group.

"Hi, I'm Lenore Fenzl. I've been here at the clinic for a few years. I first came here after I discovered spots spreading on my body and when people looked at them they passed out," a woman wearing purple clothes that covered her entire body except her face which was covered by a white, faceless mask.

"Hi, I'm Stephanie Harrington. My husband brought me here a month ago after I started sparkling a little and displaying strange bouts of energy and heal with a touch," a beautiful woman in her early thirties with long blond hair said bashfully.

"Hi, my name is Calvin Rankin. I don't remember much of my past and most of my life is a blur. Ever since the clinic found me wondering the woods they have done wonders in making me feel at home. Unlike you Stephanie, my touch doesn't heal, it actually kills," a nice looking man with blond hair and wearing gloves said as Stephanie seemed to move back a little.

"Hi, I'm Chrystal Lynn. I'm not from the United States. Like Mr. Rankin, I don't recall much of my past or homeland. I just know that from a young age I was on the run from people wanting to hurt me because of my facial deformities and I ended up in the States. After the White Event, I developed the ability to create crystals from my hands and found my self a stranger in a strange land. Luckily, the clinic here found me and have cared for me ever since. I owe them everything," a dark skinned woman with a strange jaw and pointy eats said with tears.

"Hey don't feel bad. Just look at me, I'm a living blur. Name's Jeff Walters. One day I started to run and haven't stopped yet. I came here in hopes of finding a way to be normal again," a young African American man said. It was hard to make out his features since he seemed to be moving at a high speed that caused his body to look like a giant blur.

"Hi, this is my first day here. My name's Randy O'Brien. I was a surgeon until I discovered a weird shadow coming out of me. I saw an ad in the paper so me and a couple other friends came here to find help. Not sure how my other friends are doing, but I was told they were placed in other therapy groups," the great looking man of about thirty with short brown hair said with a smile.

"You can just call me Scuzz. Only reason I'm here is it's better than living with my father. Who of course signed me over to the clinic so I'm kept here against my will, until I turn eighteen," a young man in his teens said as his clothes appeared to be smoking.

"Dennis, that will be enough. You need to calm down. You know how the more emotional you get the more your body secretes the acid based sweat that eats through your cloths," Dr. Semple said with a glare and then turned to the last member of the group and nodded.

"Hi, my name is Mary Jane Parker. Today is my first day here too. I came here after I got into an altercation with my husband and suddenly displayed powers. Electricity shot from my hands and electrocuted him. An officer suggested this place and I decided to come here before I ended up hurting or even killing someone," a young woman with flaming red hair and a killer smile said.

"Great, now let's start our session for today," Dr. Semple said as she began her group's session.

_**An Hour Later – Cafeteria**_

"This place seems very nice," Mary Jane said as she sat down with her therapy group to eat.

"Yes, I like it. I've never had a complaint in all the time I've been here," Lenore said as sat across from them without a tray.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Mary Jane asked the woman in purple.

"I will later," Lenore said.

"She never eats with us. She just hangs with us and then they let her eat privately later in her quarters," Jeff said as he had finished the last of his food before any of them had started on their own.

"Can't you take your mask off or get a mask with a mouth piece?" Calvin Asked.

"No, even just a glimpse of my skin will cause harm to anyone looking. Don't worry, I love the company and the privacy of eating alone," Lenore said with a smile in her voice.

"So, are we always kept in our groups?" Randy asked as he looked around and other groups sitting together but spaced so no one was really near the other groups.

"Yes, they feel it helps more if you keep a small group together. Sometimes people leave or move on, but as long as I've been here they try to keep the same people together," Lenore said.

"Why do you ask? Worried about your friends?" Stephanie asked.

"A little. I've looked around but I haven't seen them and when I've asked about them I'm just told they are in other groups or special therapy and nothing more and my mind gets fuzzy," Randy said.

"You know, now that you say that. Every time I try and think about my past my mind gets fuzzy too. Sometimes, when I'm in a group like this, I feel like I was with another group but then the thoughts just get dismissed," Calvin said eyeing the place a little.

"Are you going to eat that?" Jeff asked Chrystal Lynn.

"No, go ahead. I'm not too hungry tonight," Chrystal said as in a matter of seconds her tray was empty.

"If you ask me, I think this place is a prison and up to no good," Scuzz said as he grabbed the wrapper from his burger and held it tight in his hand till it smoked and began to dissolve.

"We better finish up, it's almost lights out," Lenore said as she thanked them for the company and retired to her room.

Later Calvin Rankin found himself in his room ready to lie down and sleep. Even though the thoughts were starting to fade, it was troubling him how familiar being with a group was. The more he thought about it the more it didn't seem right that he had been here as long as he thought he had. Something wasn't feeling right to him. Before he could think any further, a strange sleeping sensation began to hit him and he closed his eyes figuring he would deal with it in the morning. Just as he was about to drift into sleep he felt a strange presence.

"What the?" Calvin asked as he jumped up to see a floating black shadow figure hovering over him.

The shadow creature just looked at him and motioned for him to get up. Calvin wasn't sure what the thing was trying to say or do.

"Are you Randy's shadow man?" Calvin asked as the thing nodded and started motioning by the door.

Calvin just sat there shaking his head in frustration. What did this thing want? Did Randy know it was in here? Calvin was about to give up when the shadow man began to freak out. It starting moving real fast and zipping around the room and diving towards the door and back. Calvin chuckled and waved his hand when the shadow man stopped and then dived right at him. Calvin tried to move but was too slow. The creature had gone right into him.

He suddenly saw Randy sleeping on his bed. It was obvious to Cal that he was now seeing everything that had happened to the shadow thing through its eyes. Calvin then saw the shadow man go out of the room and into another room filled with monitors. There were two men and a woman watching the monitors and doing something strange. He couldn't make out what they were doing but he could see that the monitors had every patient here at the clinic in their bedrooms sleeping. Calvin got the immediate impression that these three were doing something to them while they slept.

Calvin's mind began to clear as he wondered if this had something to do with their fuzzy memories. Before he could get a closer look the shadow thing bolted out of the room. The next place Calvin was taken was a large area that looked like a laboratory. There seemed to be several people strapped down on cots in locked cells. Cal couldn't believe what he was seeing. Were they conducting experiments on the patients here? Cal didn't have to ponder long because the shadow man suddenly was looking at what appeared to be a hairy beast looking creature doing something to a person strapped to a table. The shadow man tried to get closer when something stepped up to the side of the beast.

The man became a giant shadow creature and turned towards them. The beast jerked around and motioned with his hand at the giant shadow man. Before the giant shadow man could move, Randy's shadow man bolted with great speed. Cal was almost feeling dizzy as he zipped form room to room until he dashed back into Randy's room. The shadow man came to a halt when several security looking guards were already there standing over a sedated Randy waiting to trap the shadow creature. With a quick zig, the shadow creature made a dive through the floor and suddenly appeared in his room looking down at Cal. Cal gave a huge gasp as the shadow man left his body.

"That's what you were trying to tell me. There are bad men here and they're coming for you," Calvin said wondering what he should do.

"You'll find your door is locked," a voice said from behind Cal as he tried the handle and found it to be true.

"Who are you?" Cal asked as he saw a very battered woman with pinkish purple skin and a diamond shape in the middle of her forehead. He didn't know who she was but there was something familiar about her.

"Cal, I know you don't remember who I am but trust me, were friends and that creature is right. We are in danger here. We have to get out before they get here," the woman said with staggering breaths.

"Wait, how do you know my name?" Calvin asked.

"Cal, I only have enough strength to teleport both of us out of here. We have to go. Look deep within yourself and trust me," the woman said as she held out a hand with an arm full of scratches and bruises surrounding a strange looking devise.

"I," Cal began to say when he heard a loud commotion outside his door and the locks clicking.

The woman looked like she'd been through a lot but there was something in her eyes that told him to trust her and that he knew her from somewhere. Just as the door opened Cal reached out his gloved hand and she took it. The men glanced at the pink woman as she winked at them. Then, in an instant, the shadow man dove into Calvin's body as the woman called on her power and she and Calvin vanished from sight.

"Curse that woman, she's escaped me again," Dark Beast growled as he stepped into the room and then left slamming the door behind him.

* * *

_**Outsiders Beginnings**_

_**Altered Destinies – Part Three**_

_**Earth-Time Quake – New York**_

"This is boring. I'd rather go see how the She-Rock is doing," Black Axe said as he hovered in the air looking around for what ever was to come next.

"Her story is done for now. By now she has settled into her new home and cared by a mountain family that cares for her while the isolation allows her mind to digress in intelligence. Now pay attention as some major destinies are altered," Phoenix said with his mind.

In a flash the Exile's time ship appeared out of thin air. It seemed they were going down in a crash landing. As the ship skipped ahead Black Axe thought he saw something break off from the ship and go flying in another direction. Just as Black Axe was about to follow the ship full of Exiles, he sees the ship piece slam into another object that had just come racing into the sky. The object seems to be pushed off course and then explodes into two pieces. One being propelled at great speed out of sight and the other coming straight down and exploding again when it hits the ground below.

"What was that?" Black Axe asked.

"That would be the Blackbird carrying the newly formed X-Men on their first mission. Unfortunately, the five young mutants never make it and are presumed dead and leaving one lone man, Charles Xavier to know of and mourn their deaths," Phoenix said.

"Wait a minute. You were on that jet, Jean. What happened to you and the X-Men?" Black Axe asks.

"That story will come later. First we have to finish watching the Exiles landing and departure," Phoenix said as they vanish and reappear in the middle of the city.

"Watch out!" Black Axe hears people scream as the Exile's time ship roars out of the heavens and crash lands in the middle of the street.

Black Axe sees people scrambling from all over as a school bus comes to a screeching halt inches from the time ship. Black Axe can almost make out activity in the ship but by the time all the high school students are out of the bus, it seems to be up and running and vanishes in a flash of light. Two teachers finally get all the students calmed down and back on the bus. It didn't take long before the bus was turned around and on its way back to school. Black Axe chuckled as the odd scene left people puzzled.

"So, that wasn't destiny altering. Just a plain waste of time," Black Axe said.

"That's where you are wrong. You see, on that bus was Peter Parker. Because that crash caused his field trip to come to a stop and return back to school, he will never go into that building and get bitten by a radioactive spider. What you witnessed was the un-creation of Spider-Man," Phoenix said with great boldness.

"Well, that's cool. He was always a pain back on my world. So now where?" Black Ax asked looking around.

"Follow that man into the building," Phoenix said pointing to a man in blue jeans and a leather jacket.

"Why, what's so important about him?" Black Axe asked as he heading towards a building.

"That man is Johnny Blaze. He was destined to become the Ghost Rider. Instead, because of that crash, his bike was messed up and he will have to make a phone call. He won't make that call or become Ghost Rider. Watch," Phoenix said as they see Johnny step into the building.

Black Axe quickly follows as the man called Johnny Blaze makes his way to the front desk and instantly directed to a pay phone off to the side. Black Axe yawns and rolls his eyes as he watches the man on the phone. Suddenly the man calls out and slaps his hand. Black Axe can hear him swear about being bit by something. The man runs out of the building and off down the street. It doesn't take long before he is out of sight.

"So he gets hit by the spider and becomes Spider-Man?" Black Axe asked.

"Not quite. There never is a Spider-Man. Jonny Blaze becomes something else," Phoenix's voice answered back in his head.

"What are you referring to?" Black Axe asked, intrigued.

"The bite from the spider has an interesting effect on Johnny when it mixes with the hellfire power lying dormant in his body. The two powers merge and alter. He will have enhanced strength, agility and wall crawling but then he will have a spider sense that detects demons and will shoot webs and blasts made of hellfire. He will don a costume of red with a blue over shirt that has a spider on it and call himself the Scarlet Spider and become the second Outsider," Phoenix told him.

"Wow, so this world gets the Scarlet Spider and never get Spider Man or Ghost Rider," Black Axe nods.

"Well, there will be a Ghost Rider, just not the Blaze version," Phoenix corrects.

"Well, I guess that's all fun and games. So what happens to Blaze? He vanishes off like She-Rock?" Black Axe asked.

"No, his story isn't done yet. Before we get to that, we have one last thing to look at before jumping ahead in time," Phoenix responds as they began to move away from New York and off into another direction at an alarming speed.

"Where are we going?" Black Axe asked as he felt his body pulled.

"Two important things, there's number one," Phoenix said as she points to a spot in a grassy field.

Black Axe looks and sees a largely built man in a torn up blue and yellow costume with an "X" on the belt. He can tell the man is seriously injured with blood on him and the ground. After a few moments, a car comes up the road and a woman with red hair and glasses gets out and run over to him. She quickly checks for vitals and then runs back to her car. Moments later she is driving across the grass and pulls up to the injured man, gets him in it and drives off.

"So I take it one of the X-Men survived the plane crash?" Black Axe asked already knowing the answer.

"Yes, the one called Beast is alive but barely. That woman in the car is Moira MacTaggert, a friend and college of Professor X. She was on her way to the airport after she had had a fight with Charles Xavier. Charles had called her about his X-Men dying in a plane crash.

"Moira was not only mortified by the news but also by what Charles did next. He said that it had been Magneto that had killed his student and that he wanted her to help him gather another batch and train for war against the evil mutant. Moira refused to help or give up the couple of students she had been working with. Charles then threatened her and began to use his powers on her.

"In a weak moment, Charles stopped at what he was doing. Moira quickly grabbed a rock and knocked him out and took off. She vowed at that moment she would sever all ties with the man and never help him again. She would also get to work on the devise she had been working on with Eric to shield a person's mind from psi powers. As she contemplated all this she had seen a body in the fields.

"As she recognized the body of Beast she realized that a miracle had spared one of the students. At that moment she made two decisions. She would never tell Charles of Beast surviving and that she would start a school for new mutants and train them and keep them protected from Charles and the rest of the world," Phoenix said as she urged Black Axe onward.

"And the rest of the X-Men?" Black Axe asked as they found themselves suddenly in a different spot where a portion of the X-Men jet laid in ruins.

"You could say that we did die that day," Black Axe heard a sigh in his mind as he was mentally urged to watch.

As he watched the smoking wreckage he saw a figure suddenly appear from nowhere. The man, if you could call it a man, whore a blue armor with a giant "A" on the front. With great strength the man starts pulling bodies out of the wreckage, four of them. A man made of ice missing an arm and a leg, a man covered in blood and what appeared to be stumps on his back where wings used to be, another man with half his face missing and legs obviously broken and finally a woman with red hair who appeared to be out cold but looked as if there wasn't a scratch on her. The man pressed a button and then they all vanished from sight.

"My powers had protected me, but at the time I wasn't strong enough to do anything for my fellow teammates. The creature you saw taking us was an evil mad man named Apocalypse. He would do things to us and recreate all four of us. When next we woke we wouldn't be the same, but that will be a tale for another time," Phoenix said with sadness and anger in her voice.

"So the world thought you dead while he made you his soldiers of war. Sweet," Black Axe smiled as he picked up a snippet of her tale from her memories.

"Think what you want, but this changed the path and destinies of many mutants, X-Men and X-Teams to come. Including mine. Enough of that, we must push onward," Phoenix said quickly.

"Where to now, my wonderful guide?" Black Axe joked.

"We jump a year in time. Two great teams are about to form. The Avengers and an all new all different X-Men," Jean said as Black Axe finds himself propelled forward in time.

**Next: Issue #29 – Blink Quest – Part Five & Outsiders Beginnings: Altered Destinies – Part Four **


	30. Blink Quest Part Five

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #29 – Blink Quest – Part Five**

_**Earth-15731b **_

_**A Large Farm House in the Middle of Nowhere**_

"How is he doing?" An older man with a short beard asked as he walked into the small bedroom.

"Resting and hoping he'll wake soon," Blink said as she looked up from the bedside of her dear friend.

"No surprise he's sleeping this long. What I did took lots of energy from him, but when he wakes he should have is full memories back," the man said with a smile.

"Thank you, Walt. You and the others have been so helpful," Blink said as she looked back down at the sleeping body of Calvin Rankin.

When she had learned of Calvin and the others arriving at the clinic she knew she had to risk going back to save them. She lucked out when she made it into Calvin's room and teleported him out before the Dark Beast could nab either of them. She had brought him back to this farm house that belonged to a group that had taken her in and helped her previously. Walt had immediately used his mental powers, along with Mary Lou's energy jamming powers to unblock Cal's mind and attempt to restore his memories. They were very certain it had worked and they would know the minute he woke.

"He's waking," Walt said seconds before Calvin opened his eyes. "I'll give you privacy."

"Clarice? You're okay?" Calvin said as he sat up and rubbed his head as he saw a man leave the room.

"Yes, thanks to Walt and his friends here," Clarice said as she helped Calvin sit up on the edge of his bed.

"What happened to you? How did you get away from Dark Beast?" Calvin asked.

"We went through the portal and found ourselves on this world in the middle of a highway. I tried to get away from McCoy but the sudden pull through the portal caused our mutant gene to go dormant. I had no powers and looked normal as did McCoy. Before we could react, Walt came screeching at us with his car. I felt a sudden, painful force and blacked out.

"When I came too, I was sitting in this vary house. Walter had managed to swerve enough not to kill me but I was nicked enough to put me out a day. While I was out, McCoy had learned everything about this world. From the White Event, to the Clinic of Paranormal Research to a group called DP7 and beyond. It seemed that the world had survived the War and those with powers were fading away.

"I started to tell Walt, and with his mental powers, tell him all about the Exiles and the Dark Beast. At that moment McCoy had burst in cracking a bat over Walt's head killing him. I looked up at him and realized why he had made his move. Blue fur was starting to grow on his body and my skin was starting to change color. Out powers were coming back. I was still swore, but tried to move as fast as I could, but I wasn't fast enough to stop what happened next.

"McCoy leapt and had his hand around my wrist. The Tallus began transmitting when Walt's wife, Mary Lou ran in and saw her husband on the floor dead. She screamed and released her powers that did something to the Tallus. Everything went fuzzy and seemed to shimmer as McCoy and I found ourselves standing in front of a research clinic. A man came charging at us demanding why we were here at his newly opened clinic.

"From the stories, McCoy realized and stated out loud that we had jumped back in time and was standing in front of the Clinic for Displaced Paranormals. With new found desire, McCoy grabbed the man by the throat just as he mutated back to his full Dark Beast appearance. With this realization, he turned at me just in time to see me concentrate on Walt's house and vanish from sight. I had no clue if Walt existed this far back in time but luckily I found him once again.

"I couldn't get my Tallus to work anymore after future Mary Lou fried it. So Walt and his friends here took me in and finished nursing me back to health while we monitored the clinic. From what we gathered, McCoy had managed to take over the place and rumors of odd things happening in there surfaced. Walt and his friends refused to help me go after him, for they felt safer by staying hidden. I was hiding in the brush scoping the place out when I saw you and the others appear. Before I could act, they took you all into custody.

"I came back and told Walt but he said they just couldn't get involved. I had teleported my way in there a few times to search for you guys, but security is real tight. I was in long enough to find out where your room was and that they were brainwashing you all. I came back and begged one more time but Walt said they couldn't I decided to go break you out, and Walt wished me luck and put some kind of psi shield on me to protect me from mental attacks.

"So I teleported to your room and here we are," Blink said as she gave Cal a well needed hug.

"I am so glad to have my memories back, but I still remember the fuzziness of being in there," Cal said as he quickly told Blink about his therapy group.

"So Chameleon and Krystalin are in there, what about the others?" Blink asked as they made their way downstairs.

"I don't know, but we need to go back. Creed has a Tallus and I'm sure McCoy is making use of that since he lost you," Calvin said as they stepped into a living room with six people.

"Glad to see you up and about," Walt smiled as the two came into the room.

"Thanks," Calvin said shaking the hand of the man that was in his room earlier.

"Walt and his friends here were all given powers by this world's White Event," Blink said as Calvin glanced at everyone.

"All of you have powers?" Calvin asked looking at the odd group of people.

"Yes, I am Walt. I go by the name Psi-Lord and have great mental powers," Walt said as he then introduced the others.

"This is Mary Lou, she goes by Purple Veil and she can mentally jam energies," Walt said as a woman with wavy blond hair waved.

"This is Holly, she calls herself Supernatural. She can mentally influence nature," Walt said pointing to a girl with long brown hair.

"The guy with the curly dark hair is Victor. He calls himself Phantom Bullet and is Psychokinetic. The guy with the short brown hair is Dan. He goes by Apparition and can manipulate senses. The last of our group is Keith and he calls himself Trancer. He is clairvoyant," Walt said as he finished with a chubby man with wavy red hair.

"Together, we call ourselves the ESPeople," Mary Lou said as she walked over to Walt and squeezed his shoulder.

"With all your powers you can easily help us rescue our friends," Calvin said as he looked at this group of mismatched people.

"No, our path is to stay safe and secure in this house. We risk a lot by exposing ourselves," Walt said as many of the others nodded in agreement.

"Like I told you, the creature running that place is evil and doesn't belong here. We just need help getting in, saving our friends and taking down the Dark Beast," Blink pleaded once again.

"Walt, we have to help. Maybe we are meant to do more," Mary Lou said.

"And I can easily make us appear in disguise so we are not recognized," Dan said with excitement in his voice.

"I don't know," Walt said, growing nervous.

"Time is running out. The longer we waste the more danger our friends are in. We are going either way, but your help would be appreciated and gladly needed," Calvin said as he met Walt's eyes.

"We need to help," Mary Lou said as she touched Walt's arm.

"We all vote. We all go or not at all," Walt said as he lead his team out of the room.

"If they don't want to go or come back still undecided, we have to go," Calvin said with urgency.

"Yes, but before we do, I've something I manage to snag from the clinic," Blink said as she vanished and then reappeared with a device in one hand and a suit in the other.

"My costume and Thor's Pym Particle Harness," Calvin said as he grabbed his uniform with excitement.

"I stumbled upon them when I was scoping the place out," Blink said with a smile.

"You truly are amazing," Mimic said as he quickly put on his attire and harness and felt a great relief that he could once again look into Blink's eyes.

"We can never be kept a," Blink began to say and move closer to Mimic when the kitchen door flew open.

"We've decided. The ESPeople will help you free your friends and bring down the Dark Beast," Mary Lou said with excitement.

"After that, we leave, returning back to our lives here and have nothing further to do with you or the paranormals there," Walt said as Blink jumped back from Mimic.

"Great," Blink blushed.

"Then let's go," Mimic said as he motioned to the group.

"First, ESPeople, join our powers," Walt said as suddenly they all seemed to be glowing and the world around them began to shift and swirl until all six had taken on new looks.

Psi-Lord wore a black and white robe with a green cape, head piece and boots and holding a staff with a crystal orb. Purple Veil wore a skimpy lavender dress outfit with a purple cape and hood that covered her face. Supernatural wore a once piece bathing suit that appeared to be made out of green moss while vines wrapped up and down her bare legs and arms. Her hair was shorter and her facial features looked older but naturally beautiful. Phantom Bullet wore an all purple cowboy's outfit with matching eye mask and gloves. Apparition now wore an all white costume that covered his whole body and daunted a blue cape. Finally, Trancer looked like an Arabian knight with orange pants, eye mask and turban and red boots and vest. A gold medallion rested on his bare chest. He also looked very muscular now instead of chubby.

"Now we're ready," Psi-Lord said.

"I just hope you can get us safely in there again," Mimic said as he suddenly felt a strange sensation as Randy's shadow person bolted out of him and put his hands onto Blink's head.

"He's showing me exactly what I need to see in the clinic. I know where to go," Blink said as she called on her powers and the nine of them all vanished from sight to invade the clinic.

_**

* * *

**_

_**Outsiders Beginnings**_

_**Altered Destinies – Part Four**_

_**Earth-Time Quake – Stark Manor**_

"Who is that?" Black Axe asked as he saw a man with a goatee working on some kind of armor.

"That is Tony Stark and he is almost finished with his updated armor that he will use to debut himself as Iron-Man," Phoenix answered.

"What? Are you trying to tell me that this is where we see Iron-Man get altered somehow?" Black Axe mocked, growing tired of this little adventure.

"No, Tony Stark become Iron-Man. You have to keep in mind that despite the ripples, the reality tried to right itself and keep going forward as it was supposed to go. Only thing is there are still changes, but as each Outsider is created my world grows closer to its end," Phoenix explained.

"So what are we suppose to be seeing here?" Black Axe asked.

"We are about to see the formation of the Avengers. Originally, the Asgardian known as Loki had caused his brother Thor and a group of new heroes known as Iron-Man, Hulk, Ant-Man and the Wasp to join together to stop him and form the Avengers. Since the bridge was destroyed, Loki and Thor never came to Earth.

"Instead of the Hulk being lead to this group, Hulk ended up in another place at the wrong time. The government goes all out after him and the battle ends up growing fierce and makes Hulk lose ultimate control and reverts to a total rampaging monster and inadvertently kills hundreds of civilians. No turning back, Hulk flees on a rampaging massacre across the states as he is about to hit New York.

"Hulk will meet up with the Avengers, not as a member but as their major enemy. Now watch," Phoenix narrates to Black Axe as he watches the story unfold before him.

"Yes?" Tony asks as he answers the phone.

"Tony, this is Reed Richards. Things went wrong with Dr. Banner and he's become a raging monster. Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. tried to contain him but it's resulted in the deaths of hundreds. This Hulk is heading your way. Fury knows that the contracts aren't signed yet between you and them, that's why I'm calling as an old friend, to see if your experimental weapon is ready. We need it," Reed pleaded over the phone.

"It's not ready yet, Reed. Even if it was, I'm not quite sure I want to turn it over to your guys before the contracts are finalized between us," Tony said as he looked at the actual completed weapon.

"I still don't see why you keep refusing to come work for Nick. He's truly a great guy," Reed said.

"No, my only path is to try and run my father's company and make him proud," Tony said as he about lost his footing with a great tremor.

"What was that?" Reed asked when Tony dropped the received and picked it back up.

"Something huge just hit outside and I think it's your Hulk," Tony said as he switched on his outside security cameras.

"Darn, he moves fast. S.H.I.E.L.D. is still about an hour away," Reed said as the phone and the power went dead.

"Well, guess there's no better time to test you than the present," Tony said as he moved as fast as he could to get inside and activate his armor.

In a matter of moments he was inside and powered up his sit of armor. He walked forward with a little stiffness. He still had to get used to walking in this thing. It was slightly different from his first version. This one was golden and a little bigger and more robot-can shaped. It was also stronger and had more weapons than his first suit of armor. With a big gulp of air, Tony took flight in his new suit of armor and blasted out the side exit and headed right into the heart of the city where a large green goliath of a monster stood destroying everything in sight.

"Here goes nothing," Tony said as he powered up and fired his force beam from his chest at the green Hulk.

"Grrrrr," Hulk growled as the blast barely had an impact on him.

Hulk moved with great speed, closed his hands together in one giant fist and slammed them into Tony's armor. Tony held his breath as he slammed into the side of a near by building. He glanced down and saw that there was a very small dent in the front of his armor. He knew that if it wasn't for his new force field he would have been crushed. He got to his feet as his mind already started thinking of several updated for his next model. As he got back he saw the Hulk was being engaged by a couple of very small people.

"Looked like you could use some help," a small woman with wings said as she flew by his face mask and went back at the Hulk.

"If he swatted me, how can you two stop him?" Tony asked with curiosity.

"Don't doubt my girlfriend. She pacts a wallop," the little guy on a flying ant said as he moved past Tony and joined the flying woman.

Tony watched as the little woman zipped form the Hulk's ears to his eyes hitting the creatures with powerful blasts from her hands. It wasn't enough to really hurt the green goliath, but it was enough to stun and confuse the beast. While the Hulk was dazed, the small man on the flying ant moved in. Tony didn't see it at first, but then suddenly thousands of ants swarmed upon the Hulk and instantly covered his body. The Hulk screamed as he realized two things- the ants were fire ants and the small man was somehow sending out a signal form his helmet that allowed him to control the ants. It wasn't long before the blasts and the ants had the Hulk on his back and roaring in anger.

Tony was truly impressed with the two tiny newcomers. He was ready to assist in the final capture when the Hulk roared and leapt to his feet, sending the ants flying in every direction. The creature then looked right at the two tiny people and brought his arms together in great force. The slamming of his hands caused a force wave to generate outwards hitting the two tiny heroes. Both of them screamed as they went soaring backwards with great speed and force. Tony gasped as he knew there was nothing he could do to stop their pending impact with the side of a car.

Just as we waited for the quick splat, it never came. Out of nowhere, a blue stretchy rubber band-like thing moved up between the car and the two tiny people. The two insect heroes safely bounced off the rubbery thing and each into another darker rubbery thing. The blue rubber thing quickly reshaped and suddenly took the form of a man. He was wearing a blue costume with a matching eye mask. He smiled at Tony as he revealed the two insect people safe in each of his hands. Tony was very relived at this new hero's save.

"Smash!" The Hulk screamed as it came charging at the four heroes.

"This can't be good," the man of rubber said.

"Stand behind me. My force field coated armor should protect me," Tony said in hopes of it being said out loud would make it true.

"I keep telling myself I don't want to be a hero and every time I keep getting pulled back in," a voice shouted from above.

They all looked up to see a man in a what looked like a homemade red costume and mask swinging down on what looked like a web made of fire. The man let go of the web, and as it faded, plunged himself, feet first into the chest of the Hulk. The Hulk stopped his charge as the man in red propelled backwards, flipped upside down and landed on his feet in front of the green monster. Without missing a beat, the man gave a wicked uppercut that sent the Hulk flying up into the air a few feet. The man in red leapt straight up causing his head and from his fingers to his elbow to burst into flames. This seemed to make him go higher and faster.

Once he was above the Hulk, he brought his arms down and together. A very powerful blast of fire leapt from his hands and hit the Hulk sending him crashing hard into the ground below. He then created a web of fire and swung back to the ground below. Once he landed between the sluggish Hulk and the other four heroes commanded all of them to release their powers directly at the hulks head. Without missing a beat, blasts of fire, photon energy and insect blasts impacted the Hulks head causing him to black out. The man in red then flicked his wrists and entrapped the Hulk in a web made of fire.

"That should hold him for now," the man in red said as he turned to face the others.

"If I would have known fire would do the trick I'd have done that first," Tony said.

"This isn't any ordinary fire. Its arachnid mutated hellfire," the man in red said.

"Glad you were here to help," the tiny man on the flying ant said as he suddenly grew to normal size as did his female companion.

"Thanks for the save," the woman said as her wings vanished when she reached normal height.

"No problem," the stretchy man said.

"All right everyone. Stand back. We've got it from here," a voice boomed from above.

They all looked up to see a fleet of ships quickly landing near them. In moments, swarms of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were surrounding the area and the Hulk. Tony looked over to see Nick Fury and Reed Richards getting out of one of the ships. The two men quickly moved over to the Hulk. Fury held up his hand to show a small device that sent a blast at the Hulk's head while Reed placed another device around the creature's forehead and implanting the back of it into the hole formed by Fury's blast. Tony swore with great anger. Not at what they were doing to the Hulk, but that the two devises were prototypes of his he had not yet released to S.H.I.E.L.D. to use.

"Hey, Nick, I haven't given the go on those yet," Tony shouted.

"Sorry, these aren't yours. You gave the prototype to us and we improved and used them," Nick said without looking back at him.

"Reed, what the heck are you doing?" The rubber man asked at Reed Richards.

"We are taking Banner into our custody," Reed answered.

"To do what?" The man in red asked.

"That's classified. He is now Government property," Nick said as he helped load up the green monster into a ship.

"You can't do that Reed. Banner is a human being, just like Suzie," the rubber guy started to say in anger.

"Ben, you know we work to protect this country. We will give him the help he needs. You could be a part of this, but you walked away," Reed said as he joined Fury back on the ship.

"Time to go," Fury said as they took off with the Hulk in tow.

"Darn him," Tony and the one called Ben swore at the same time.

"I take it you both know them?" the ant man said.

"I was in works with them, but as of right now, all contracts are canceled. I will no longer build things to help them. I will only build things to make this world better and safer for all," Tony proclaimed.

"Reed was an old friend. I worked with him in S.H.I.E.L.D. for awhile but I got tired of what they were actually doing. I quit and went on my own," Ben said.

"Just throwing this out there, but maybe we should all join together and form a group that helps protect and avenge the weak and helpless?" The woman said with great excitement.

"I don't know," the man in red said.

"Hey, we all have powers," the ant man said.

"And I can get us our headquarters and supply all our needs," Tony said with a smile in his voice.

"Okay, I'm in. Name's Ben Grimm the ever loving Mr. Stretch," Ben said.

"I don't know about this but I'm gamed. Name's John Blaze the Scarlet Spider," the guy in red said caving in.

"Great, but if we do this we keep our identities secret," Tony said.

"Agreed," they all said making a pact.

"With that note, you will find that the Iron-Man is," Tony began to say as he removed his helmet.

"Holy crap, Tony Stark?" The ant man asked with surprise.

"You know him, Hank?" The woman asked.

"Yes I do. Tony, it's me, Hank Pym the Ant-Man and this is my girlfriend, Janet Van Dyne the Wasp," Hank Pym said removing his helmet.

"I should have known you were behind those powers," Tony said as he shook his old friend's hand.

"Okay, first, we need a name and then I can get to work on updating our costumes," Janet cheered.

"What should we call ourselves?" Hank asked.

"I think the Avengers will do just fine," Tony said as they all celebrated their new beginnings.

"How touching. Not very destiny altering," Black Axe said as he began to pull away from the scene.

"That's were your wrong. The Hulk will remain in the government's control which will lead S.H.I.E.L.D. into a different direction. The Avengers will always be a free agent and never work with or along side the government. A year from now they will still find Captain America in ice and welcome him to the Avengers, but the new founding members will take the team on a very different course," Phoenix said as they began moving at a fast pace.

"Where are we going now?" Black Axe asked.

"There is one more thing we need to witness before we conclude this story arc and move on to the next," Phoenix said.

"And that is?" Black Axe asked.

"Charles Xavier and his all new all different X-Men," Phoenix said as they raced across the city to their new destination.

**Next: Issue #30 – Blink Quest – Part Six & Outsiders Beginnings: Altered Destinies – Part Five **


	31. Blink Quest Part Six

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #30 – Blink Quest – Part Six**

_**Earth-15731b **_

_**Clinic for Paranormal Research**_

"You still haven't told us what happened to Calvin," Stephanie Harrington said as she looked around at their group that was one member shy.

"I'll I can say is that he had a medical emergency due to his powers. He's under the best of care and going through therapy. Now, let's get back to our session here," Dr. Jane Semple responded.

"It would help if we could at least see him and give him our support," Mary Jane said.

"It's not possible for you to see him right now," Dr. Semple said with finality in her voice.

"Why not?" Chrystal Lynn demanded.

"Because I'm not there, but you can sure see me now. Sorry Doctor, the jig is up," Calvin Rankin said as Therapy Group E looked to see Calvin and seven other figures appear out of nowhere dressed in funny costumes.

"Phantom Bullet, now!" Blink shouted as the man in the cowboy outfit made his hands look like pretend guns and waved them about causing energy bullets to shoot out and cause all the cameras and microphones in the room to explode.

"Our turn," Psi-Lord said as he grabbed Purple Veil's hand and they combined powers and sent mental energies at all the patients in the room causing them to drop to their knees.

"They're back. Blink, Calvin, all my memories are back," Krystalin said as Mary Jane nodded in agreement and Blink smiled as she then vanished from sight.

"What is going on?" Lenore asked as she, instead of receiving memories back like the other two woman, felt a sudden sense of mental freedom and clarity.

"This place is being run by an evil creature and is manipulating you all," Mimic said as he quickly gave them all the Cliff Note's version of the story.

"I knew this place was bad news. I'll do whatever I can to help get out of here and get back to my kids," Stephanie said.

"We don't have much time, guards will be here soon. Here, I went into the storage and supply room and got these," Blink said as she appeared with a giant duffle bag and tossed it near Mary Jane and Krystalin.

"Our costumes," Mary Jane said as she and Krys changed quickly.

"Based on what Mimic told me, I picked up some things for you all as well," Blink said as she informed the others what she had brought back.

"While we get them ready, you three need to get to the control room and use your powers to mentally free everyone in this place and send out a call to arms," Mimic said as the showdown man leapt out of him, flew at Blink and touched her to transfer information on where the control room was and then drove back into Randy O'Brian, his original host.

"Wow," Randy whispered as he regained composure from the shadow man going back into him and sharing all memories it had obtained from being in Mimic.

"We're on it," Blink said as she reached out, grabbed Psi-Lord and Purple Veil's wrists causing them to vanish in a blink of an eye.

"We better hurry before company arrives," Mimic said.

"If we're going into battle we should have cool names like you guys have. Call me Scorcher," the boy nicknamed Scuzz said as he put on a pair of black leather pants, socks and long sleeve shirt that Blink had said was fire resistant and not even acid could break it down. Knowing they would be protected by the leather outfit, he put on his shoes and his blue denim jacket and then smiled as he put on his shades.

"I'll be the Blurr," Jeff Walters said as he sported his blue one-piece spandex suit with a pair of special silver running shoes and matching gloves and protective eye goggles.

"I agree to help but I'm not putting on a silly costume," Randy said.

"Spoil sport," Stephanie said as she put on her red, white and blue gymnastics looking outfit.

"Not that I'm protesting, but I think with my powers, what I'm curretnlyu wearing is the best attire. As for a name, I've not a clue," Lenore said.

"Well, we'll call you Twilight and Randy can be Antibody," Scorcher said in excitement.

"You watch too much sci-fi television," Randy shook his head.

"And Stepahnie, since you heal and give energy we can call you Viva. That's Spanish for life," Blurr said as Stephanie chuckled.

"Hate to brake up the fun, but company is about to enter the room," Trancer said as his clairvoyant powers kicked in.

"I have a plan," Mimic said as he took charge and shouted out orders.

"Nobody moves," Bloodhound shouted as he and three others barged into the room.

"No one's here," Regulator said as he looked around the empty room.

"Where did they go?" Vice Versa asked as she stepped up next to Bloodhound.

"Powers are dying on you," Shrapnel said with a glare.

"No, I swear I can smell them," Bloodhound said as he sniffed the room.

"Twilight now," Mimic said as the air in front of the four security guards suddenly shimmered.

A brightly white glowing woman holding a robe in one hand and a face mask in the other had appeared out of nowhere. Before the four of them could react, the energy of the white light engulfed them as they all stared intensely into it. In a matter of seconds the four guards dropped to the ground unconscious. Twilight sighed with relief as she her power had knocked them out as planned. She knew she should cover herself up, but she had never felt so good. It was like the longer she exposed them to her powers, the stronger she got. She couldn't stop.

"Lenore?" Chameleon called out in concern.

"Oh, sorry. They are out cold. You all can open your eyes now" Twilight said as she quickly put her robe and mask back on causing her powers to go out.

"It worked," Apparition smiled as he shut off his powers causing the air to shimmer and everyone reappearing in the room.

"We need to tie them up and get moving," Mimic said as Krystalin nodded.

"I'm on it," Krystalin said as she called on her powers and encased the four unconscious guard's torso and arms in crystal.

Mimic then lead the group quickly out of the room. So far the coast was clear and no sign of any other guards. They were half way down the hall when a girl with dark hair about Scorcher's age and a much younger girl with blond hair came running up to them. Mimic could tell that they were scared. Twilight informed them that they were Annie Stevenson and Heather Hanneman of Therapy Group C.

"Lenore, what's going on? Suddenly my mind feels funny and then a man informs me that this place is being run by an evil creature and we must fight for our freedom," Annie said as the two girls stopped in front of the group.

"Where did you get the funny costumes?" Heather asked with a giggle.

"Look's like Blink and the others did their trick," Mimic said, but before he could add anything further, a loud explosion went off down the hall.

Mimic quickly led his group down the hall and into the main reception area. To their surprise, the patients had already gone to war with the staff of the clinic. It didn't take long before bodies from both sides began to fall. Mimic had hoped to locate the rest of his comrades before getting in wrapped up in the clinic battle. He glanced around when he heard a loud scream. He turned to see an African American woman get shot in the chest by a rifle from a security guard. Mimic didn't have to be a psychic to know that she was dead by the time she hit the floor.

"Charlotte!" An African American man shouted as he appeared by Charlotte's dead body.

"No time to morn, Blindspot. Now they face the wrath of Indigo," a very heavy set black woman said as purple energy shot from her arm, creating a hand and crushing the guard to death.

"This is crazy," Mimic had heard one of the ESPeople say as Krystalin quickly formed a crystal barrier in front of them to protect them form the flying bullets.

"We took care of the two causing the mind whammies around here and would have been here sooner but we stopped and picked up these two," Blink said as she and four other figures appeared behind Mimic and his crew.

Mimic was glad to see Blink, Psi-Lord and Purple Veil. He glanced and saw that one of the figures was a goopy mess. He knew that had to be Morph. The other figure was a barely conscious Creed who was gripping his arm where his hand had once been. Mimic shook his head. It seemed the man was always losing his Tallus, along with his hand.

"I take it McCoy has the Tallus now?" Mimic asked Blink.

"You assume correctly," a voice boomed as the battle stopped and everyone looked up to see the Dark Beast step up on the balcony ledge with a giant shadow figure hovering behind him and waving the Tallus in the air.

"Give up now, McCoy. You and your clinic are going down," Blink said with growing anger.

"You think? I guess you haven't met my latest experiments," Dark Beast laughed as seven figures stepped out of the shadows.

"Dave?" Randy questioned as he saw a beastly mutated version of his friend.

"Mastodon," Dark Beast began his introductions as a large, muscular and brown hairy creature roared.

"Sponge." A very obese woman with circular holes all over her body screamed with hunger. She looked like a giant human sponge.

"Shock." A woman whose skin appeared to be made of flesh and electricity cackled with laughter. Her eyes and hair were made strictly out of electricity.

"Chill." An African American man with jagged ice erupting from all over his skin smirked at all over them. You could see his breath with every exhale as the small pocket of air around his mouth froze and then dropped to the ground and shattered.

"Mutator." A strange figure that looked like a cross between a spider, mole and a human leapt up and hung upside-down from the ceiling above them.

"Ghost-Driver." They all stared as they saw what appeared to be another shadow man like Randy's shadow man except it was larger and its shape made it look more like a monster with sharp claws for fingers.

"And finally," Dark Beast said with a mocking smile followed with laughter.

"Oh no, Thunderbird," Blink cried as she looked from what appeared to be her old friend then to Mimic. Thunderbird was thin and all his armored plating was gone. He wore a blue spandex suit and his skin was red as fire with glowing yellow eyes.

"Dark Paranormals Seven, kill them!" Dark Beast commanded as the seven mutated people leapt towards the battlefield below.

* * *

_**Outsiders Beginnings**_

_**Altered Destinies – Part Five**_

_**Earth-Time Quake – Xavier Institute**_

"He doesn't look well," Black Axe said as he appeared into an office with a bald man sitting in a wheelchair.

"He's had a rough year. After his X-Men died in that freak plane accident he started to exhaust his financial resources to fend off the lawyers of our families. In the end, he pushed himself beyond limits to make everyone that had ever known the civilian identities forget they existed.

"He thought it would be easy to put together a new team of X-Men, but Moira refused to help him and disappeared. No matter how hard he pushed he could not find her anywhere, not even with Cerebro, and he had the scar on his head to remind him," Phoenix said to mentally.

"Is that all? The man doesn't know what rough is," Black Axe laughed.

"It can be when you think your dream has been crushed. Then his very first student, a mutant codenamed Sage, came out of her secret mission and returned home to the institute. She believed him and encouraged his hatred for Magneto and the blame that he was responsible for the death of his X-Men.

"Unlike Moira, Sage was more than willing to help him find a new group of X-Men. While she was making contacts, Charles was openly challenging Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Using every resource he had to brand them the ultimate evil. With his X-Men's death and Sage's encouragement, Xavier began to change.

"The first mutant recruited was Calvin Rankin, codenamed Mimic. Xavier saw a lot of his original X-Men in him. Sage had a list of potentials and went over the list with Xavier and Calvin. Some of them were real hard core while the others were more like the original X-Men. Sage wanted the hardcore while Mimic wanted the later. Xavier, in a good moment decided to go with Mimic's choices and began training them.

"Then the day came and Charles sent his X-Men after Magneto with Mimic as field leader. Sage was mad and for whatever reasons, she tipped off Magneto. When the X-Men showed to confront Magneto, they got their butts handed to them. One student had died, Sage. No one knows what happened, but on the plane ride back Sage was near death and told Xavier that Magneto had confessed to her that he had killed the original X-Men as she was next. With her last breath, she begged for vengeance.

"Xavier agreed and wanted Magneto's death. Mimic tried pleading with him. Said that he had seen Magneto in action and that he was no killer, just misunderstood. Xavier tried to push his mind but with Mimic's powers he was able to protect himself. Xavier said he was going to take the students and go again and again till Magneto was dead. Calvin, not liking this new Xavier, Calvin quit the X-Men and took the students and sent them off to safety. He then left to go see Magneto and try and find a way to resolve this conflict.

"That was this morning. Now we watch a man at his breaking point," Phoenix said as Black Axe watched with fascination.

"Sage is right. We need to be more aggressive or we will not survive and the only way to do that is to first put an end to Magneto once and for all," Charles Xavier said out loud.

Black Axe watched as the man in the wheelchair pulled up some names on his computer monitor and then used his mental powers to send out messages. He was going to go after Magneto, but this time with Sage's team of X-Men. Black Axe could feel and sense the anger and conflict in the man's mind. He had now reached the point of no return. Xavier made his way to the main entry way as he awaited his new band of X-Men.

The first to arrive was a mutant that lived in the sewers with a community of mutants that called themselves Morlocks. He looked weak, but Sage had chosen him because he was easily manipulated and one of the best mutant trackers in the world. With Xavier's powers, it wasn't that hard to convince him to forget about where he came from and to join this new family. Next walked in an old acquaintance.

"What makes you think I will join you? I am a Prince of the seas and the affairs of the surface world do not concern me," Prince Namor from Atlantis asked.

"You are one of the first mutants. If we don't stop people like Magneto, he will soon lead to attacks under the sea," Xavier explained as he began to push with his mental powers.

"I will help you with this, but no guarantee that I will stay and join your X-Men, Charles," Namor said as Charles smiled.

The next two members to arrive were Gambit and Longshot. The two had already been contacted and found by Sage. They knew the evil of Magneto and were all too eager to join his team to bring the evil mutant down. The last to arrive made him nervous. He had his choice of two like this mutant. A Canadian named Wolverine or this one time associate of Magneto's, Sabretooth. Both had been a part of a Weapon X program and very similar. Sage had said that Sabretooth would be his better bet against Magneto, so he had made his choice.

"I could gut you right now," Victor Creed snarled as he stepped into the mansion.

"True, but then you would never have the means to exact revenge on Magneto and forever be free of him," Xavier said as he pushed with his mind. Sage was right; this one would be very easy to mentally control.

"I'm in for now, but once the deed is done, there are no guarantees," Creed said as Charles smiled.

Xavier knew he could never get them to physically train together nor did he have the time. He had to strike and it had to be now. So he pushed with his powers and mentally synched them up. It would be easier this way. Charles was amazed at how right Sage was about using his powers this way on others. It made things a lot easier and less work for him to get what he wanted done. With a mental nod, he suited up and gathered his new X-Men onto the black jet and took off. Using his mental powers, Longshot's luck powers and Caliban's tracking powers they found Magneto's base in no time.

It seemed Magneto was holding up in an empty warehouse in Manhattan. Xavier launched his X-Men into battle before he landed the plane. The hatch opened and his five mutants dove for the hidden base before. Before they hit the ground, the Brotherhood was meeting them in battle. Magneto, Toad, Blob, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Mimic. It was fast but brutal battle. Magneto hung back as both teams fought it out.

Namor flew at Blob and landed a hardy punch that went nowhere on the firmly planted Blob. Quicksilver moved with great speed, but Caliban sensed where he was moving to and with Longshot's luck, hit him in the leg with a throwing knife that sent him crashing into the building. Scarlet Witch screamed and sent a hex blast at the mutants. As the blasts hit the two that had hurt her brother, Gambit sent a charged card at the mutant witch and sent her flying backwards with a bang. Mimic could see right away how deadly Charles's game had gotten.

"Time to die, traitor," Sabretooth snarled as he leapt in front of Mimic.

"I guess the only way to beat them is to become them," Mimic said as he erased his powers and latched onto the five powers of the opposing mutants.

Sabretooth swiped and sliced open Mimic's side, but to his surprise it started healing right away. Mimic, with great luck, leapt up and over Creed landing behind him. It had worked. He had been able to mimic all five of Xavier's mutants. He had Sabretooth's healing factor and feral abilities, Gambit's ability to charge items, Longshot's agility and luck, Caliban's mutant tracking abilities and Namor's strength. Mimic sighed as he saw the wings on his ankles which meant he could fly too.

Moving quickly, Mimic had taken down each of Xavier's mutants. He managed to knock them out without anyone being killed. He heard Magneto clapping as he called on his powers to pin the group to the ground. He just hopped that he could convince Magneto to also not result to murder and end this quarrel in peace. Just as Mimic began to walk towards Magnetos he felt a pain in his mind.

"Mimic, you can still help me. You have the power to end Magneto once and for all," Xavier pushed but was unable to take control of his mind.

"Never," Mimic said as he called on all his might and prepared to mimic Xavier's powers.

"Then I'm sorry I will have to remove our powers," Xavier said as he sent a powerful mental blast at his old student.

"I won't allow it," Scarlet Witch said lying next to Mimic as she sent a hex blast at Xavier.

The hex blast crossed the mental blast as each hit their targets. Xavier fell back releasing his power from Mimic as the mental blast sent Mimic to the ground. Mimic quickly realized that Xavier had managed to shut off his ability to mimic powers, but the hex blast had affected it enough that he was able to permanently keep the five powers he had just copied. Mimic got back to his feet just as Magneto took action.

"Charles, you hide from the rest of us? Once again letting others do your dirty work?" Magneto said as with a wave of his hand ripped the jet apart leaving Xavier exposed to the watchful eye.

"What you are doing is wrong. For this and the death of my X-Men you must be stopped," Xavier said as he suddenly saw news crews forming.

"I never killed your X-Men, but maybe I will make an exception this time," Magneto said as he increased his hold on the mutants below.

"You lie. Sage told me of your confession. You must die," Xavier said as he sent a mental message out.

Magneto laugh faded as what happened next took him by surprise. Gambit charged up a wooden stake to his side as Longshot, luckily was able to grab it and throw it. With great speed and luck, the wooden stake hit Magneto in the neck and sent his helmet flying off with an explosion. Magneto screamed as he tried to reach for his helmet. Xavier took that moment to act and did two things at once; he outed himself as a mutant on television and seized control of Magneto's mind.

"Xavier, no," Magneto shouted as he dropped to the ground holding his head and releasing his prisoners.

"Your time is over," Xavier said as anyone could clearly see that he was using his powers on the evil mutant.

"Xavier, you don't have to kill him," Mimic pleaded as he suddenly found that he couldn't move.

"It has to be done," Xavier said as Sabretooth, gaining his movement back, leapt at Magneto and removed his head from his body.

"No!" Scarlet Witch screamed at the sight of the Brotherhood leader's death.

"We got to get out of here," Both sides seemed to shout as police began to arrive.

"You can come back with us, Calvin," Xavier said mentally.

"No!" Mimic shouted as he used his powers to take flight and vanish.

"Poor, Magneto," Black Axe said as he moved away from the scene.

"Yes and a lot of other things changed at this moment. Toad and Blob would wonder off on their own while Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch would join various versions of the Avengers, but the next Outsider was created this day.

"Mimic would become the Outsider known as X-Man and the X-Men would be no more as two fractions would further divide the mutants. Calvin will form a team called X-Factor and take up a dream similar to Xavier's old dream while Charles and his mutants are viewed by the public as vigilantes and almost classed like Magneto was.

"Professor X, as he will become to be called, convinces Namor and the others to stay with him and they become known as the Extreme X-Men. This changes the destinies of the mutants forever. You have Xavier more aggressive and viewed as evil, Mimic starts his own school for gifted youngsters and becomes a voice of good while Moira forms her own secret mutants in hiding.

"Along with this, the New Mutants are never formed and Doug Ramsey and Warlock will never exist. Banshee will never be recruited to the X-Men and with Sage removed from the Hellfire Club, Emma Frost never gets recruited there. Instead, Banshee and Emma end up on the island with Moira where they fall in love and help train Moira's hidden students. Moira, Banshee, Emma, Beast, Siryn and Wolfsbane become the leaders of Gen X. This will also lead to a child between Siryn and Beast that will create the Outsider known as Frost.

"This altered destiny does one last thing. This display on television and the actions of Namor, it will lead to the Submariner's exile from Atlantis and his cousin Namorita will become the ruler of Atlantis," Phoenix said as they now hovered high up in the sky.

"So all this will destroy your world?" Black Axe asked.

"No, the timeline tries to right itself and continues on, but each time a ripple or Outsider is created it leads farther into the fateful end," Phoenix said as things began to shimmer.

"Where to now?" Black Axe asked.

"We jump ahead in time as a very strange war will create the next Outsider," Phoenix said as they vanished in time.

**Next: Issue #31 – Blink Quest – Part Seven & Outsiders Beginnings: Secret Wars – Part One**


	32. Blink Quest Part Seven

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #31 – Blink Quest – Part Seven**

_**Earth-15731b **_

_**Clinic for Paranormal Research**_

"Dave, is that you? You have to stop, it's me, Randy," Randy said as the large and muscular beast pounced on him.

Randy closed his eyes and awaited the beating that never came. He opened his eyes to see the creature, his former friend, roaring in anger. It appeared that dozens of shadow figures, by far smaller than his original one, swarming Mastodon and trying to hold him back. Randy couldn't believe it. Not only could he produce a life size shadow figure but now he could produce dozens of small ones too. Randy quickly moved out of the way as he let his little shadow guys keep Mastodon busy.

"Merriam, it's me, Terry. We're in the same group," the paranormal known as Thrust said to the giant sponge looking lady.

"I thirst," Sponge said as she moved closer to Thrust.

"Forget it, Terry. What ever that Dark Beast did to her, that's not Merriam anymore," the Paranormal called Scrap Iron said as he steppe dup next to his friend.

"Then I have to do what I have to do," Thrust said as he sent a force blast from his body.

The blast hit Merriam causing her to step back and then swell in size as she absorbed the power. She then moved closer as two sponge-like arms shot out and touched Thrust and Scrap Iron. They both screamed as Sponge absorbed their powers but then drained their bodies of all moisture and then their life force. Both members of therapy group D fell to the ground shriveled up and lifeless. Sponge had grown in size and hungered for more.

"We have to stay clear of that thing but how do we stop it?" Blink asked as she appeared by Mimic's side.

"We can't teleport her out of here and endanger the outside world. She seems to be absorbing any power that comes at her and getting larger and stronger, I think I have no choice," Mimic said as he saw the former woman named Sponge drain and kill two more people.

"She was a dear friend of mine. Maybe I can stop her?" Twilight asked.

With a nod from Mimic, Twilight walked up to Sponge and took off her mask making sure to keep her gaze on her old friend. Sponge stopped for a moment, but then seemed to keep getting closer and bigger. Sponge was draining Twilight's powers as they fueled her instead of stopping her. In exhaustion, Twilight passed out and hit the floor face first. Sponge moved with speed as it sent out a sponge arm to finish the job it started. Mimic knew he had no choice.

Mimic hit his harness and injected himself with Pym Particles of Speed. In the blink of an eye Mimic was behind Sponge and had yanked off his right glove. Even though he had learned to control this new power and force it dormant, he wore the gloves to be on the safe side. With the glove off, he focused on his five powers residing within his body, mentally selected Magnus' ability and called it forth and placed his hand on the back of Sponge. Instantly, the woman once known as Merriam Sorensen turned to stone as her sponge arm was a half an inch from Twilight's body.

Mimic sighed as he now knew what Magnus had gone through with this power. Unlike most powers of transfiguring or changing where a person could be turned back and still be alive, this power didn't work that way. Once turned to stone there was no turning back. The Magnus touch was instant death. Magnus had explained once that if someone had found a way to revert a person back to flesh from his stone touch that the body would be dead. It was the curse of his powers. Now it was Mimic's curse till he chose to purge it for another and he couldn't risk that until he knew the Time Task Force was no longer a threat.

"You had no choice. Blink, get me to Beast," Creed said as she grabbed Sabretooth and vanished leaving Mimic with the unconscious Twilight in front of the stone Sponge.

"Good riddance if you ask me," the Paranormal known as Dynamite said as he sent a force blast form his mind at the stone Sponge causing her to shatter into a million pieces.

Viva and Chameleon stood next to each other as Scorcher and Blurr raced off to help fend off the security guards and their guns. Behind them was the goop formally known as Morph, Annie Stevenson the Quiver and Heather Hanneman the raindrop and two other paranormals Debra Brownlea the Dementia and Curtis Smith the Stalagmite. Chameleon was trying to decide what to do next when the Dark Paranormal known as Shock came at them, here body made of flesh and electricity. She could see it in Annie and Heather's eyes that she had once been a friend of theirs.

"What should we do?" Viva asked looking at Chameleon.

"Let me think," Chameleon said as she realized that even though she was still new to this, all those with her were far less experience than her.

Shock was stunning and killing those around her as she came at them. Viva could heal people so that did no good. Raindrop created clods with rain which was also useless against Shock. Stalagmite became strong as long as he stood still and Dementia caused temporary insanity with a touch, both doing no good. It just left her and Quiver. Quiver could generate a vibrating force, but it took her time to build up to it and her own powers were frustrating. She had the powers of the Sinister Six, but could only use one at a time and like her name sake, the power most needed in her environment popped up. At this time, she had no control over calling on her powers or which power would be called on. So she did what any hero would do, she prayed and leapt into battle.

As she jumped on Shock she could feel the pain of the electricity coursing through her body. The pain lasted only a second as her body triggered one of her powers. Suddenly she had become a living body of electricity. Shock's powers no longer had an effect on her and she was able to fight one on one with the evil woman. She was thankful that her body gave her the power needed to survive, but she wished she could get a power that would be more useful in actually putting the lady down. For now, she would fist fight and keep her away from the others.

"Strength is nothing when you fight against the cold," Chill said as his ice jagged body came up behind the group, placing his hands on Stalagmite and Dementia and instantly encasing them both in ice.

"How delightful," Ghost-Driver laughed as he dove down and sliced the two both in half with his sharp claws.

"No!" Quiver screamed as she sent a vibe force at the shadow monster.

"Sorry, as a shadow being I can hurt you but you can't hurt me," Ghost-Driver laughed as the blast went right through his body.

"Looks like it's the end for you three," Chill laughed.

"Wrong, go to sleep," the Paranormal known as Interface said as she placed her hand on the icy man and used her powers to take control of him and force his body to shut down.

"You'll pay for that," Ghost-Driver said as he dove at the woman.

"Supernatural, use your powers with mine and maybe we can force him solid," Purple Veil said as they used their powers in unison causing the shadow monster to suddenly drop to the ground.

"We need to confine him while he is tangible," Viva said.

"Not confine, eliminate," the Paranormal known as Bazooka said as ran up placing both hands near Ghost-Driver's head and used his powers to send off two powerful energy blasts that removed the head from the body.

"Nice," Quiver said as she covered Raindrop's eyes.

"You don't stand a chance against us, right girlfriend?" Indigo said as she, Blindspot, Squirm and Mothball came up next to Krystalin who was facing her old teammate Thunderbird and the other Dark Paranormal called Mutator.

"John, you have to fight what that Beast has done to you. You're an Exile, like me and you have a fiancé waiting for you back home," Krystalin said as she saw a hesitation in his eyes.

With out a word, Thunderbird's eyes flared as he slammed his hands together causing thunder to boom in the air as a shock wave sent them all to the ground hard. Mutator leapt upon Squirm and instantly sealed him up in a cocoon covering his feet to his shoulders. Blindspot gasped and then vanished from sight. Mutator whipped his head around and a spider leg shot out form his back. Blood splattered and formed around the spider leg as Blindspot slowly materialized, skewered upon Mutator's leg. Mutator shook his leg sending Blindspot's dead body across the room.

"No!" Indigo screamed as she created a giant fly swatter but was suddenly sent flying across the room with a thundering boom courteous of Thunderbird.

"I don't know how long I'll be able to hold him," Krystalin said as she used her powers to continuously encase Thunderbird in crystal as his powers shock and cracked her casing.

"I can help," Mothball said as he closed his eyes and concentrated.

Just as Mutator made his way back to Squirm, dozens of energy bubbles formed around Mothball's body. With great force, the bubbles floated at Mutator and began hitting the creature's body. Mutator screamed out in pain as each bubble exploded upon contact. As the last bubble popped, Mothball opened eyes to watch Mothball twitch and then revert back to human form. Mothball swaggered a little as he turned to face Krystalin and her battle with Thunderbird's crystal prison.

"What did you do?" Krys asked.

"I create neutralizing bubbles. So when I created this I told them to neutralize his powers," Mothball said with a smile.

"Can you neutralize anything, like say a person control over another's mind?" Krys asked getting an idea.

"I don't know. Maybe, I've never tried," Mothball said.

"Okay, I want you to put all your power into your bubbles and tell them to neutralize the Dark Beasts control and send them directly at the remaining Dark Paranormal's heads. Do it now!" Krys shouted as Mothball jumped to her whim.

Using all his might he concentrated on crating bubbles to neutralize mind control. He was putting so much of himself into doing this that it was all he could do from passing out. He then opened his eyes and used his powers to divide up the bubbles and send them into several different directions. Bubbles hit Mutator in the head as well as Chill. Bubbles hit both Mastodon and Shock causing them, to scream and then drop to the ground unconscious leaving dozens of shadow figures looking over one while Chameleon shifted to normal over the other. Krys smiled as she stopped her powers, Thunderbird broke through and then screamed as the bubbles hit his head and sent him into unconsciousness.

"Need a hand?" Mimic asked as he leapt up on the balcony where Dark Beast and Overshadow were giving Blink and Creed a good beating.

"You don't stand a chance. I finally have the means to go home," Dark Beast said as he waved his Tallus in the air.

"We can't get near him with the giant shadow protecting him," Blink said.

"Then let me handle him," Mimic said as he used Pym Particles to give him strength and used his telekinesis to throw himself at the shadow being.

"You fool. You know why they call me Overshadow?" The shadow creature asked as a force sent Mimic to the ground hard.

"Doesn't matter what they call you. You still go down the same," Mimic said as he sent an optic blast that went right through Overshadow.

"You see, I over shadow peoples powers. When I get close enough to them, I can duplicate their powers and use them to their full extent. For example, I can use your powers all at the same time," Overshadow said as he smiled raising his arm.

Mimic stared in horror as Overshadow used his powers to pick up Randy O'Brien and while holding him in the air with one power he small beams of energy from his arm to Randy's body. Mimic wondered why he was only using the optic power to create a solid beam between them instead of a hurting force when it suddenly hit him. Before he could move, Overshadow laughed as Randy instantly turned to stone. Overshadow called off his power as Randy dropped to the ground as all his little shadow people failed to merge back into him.

"Thanks to you, I have the power to kill everyone and anything with one quick swoop, starting with you," Overshadow said as he pointed at Mimic.

In a flash, all the little shadow people dove through Mimic and emerged as one large shadow figure right in front of him. Overshadow locked onto the shadow person instead and turned the being into stone. Overshadow threw the stone figure to the ground in anger. "Well, that was a waste."

"I'm tired of hiding. Time to step it up," Apparition said as he called on his powers and dove right into Overshadow causing him to twitch and scream.

"Dan, what are you doing?" Psi-Lord asked as he stepped next to Mimic.

"I'm using all that I can to manipulate his senses and keep him off balance. I don't know how long I can hold him so use your mojo and shut him down," Apparition's voice came from within Overshadow's body.

"Dan, the amount of power I'll have to use to shut his mind down would be too much for you. There's no way I can keep from shutting your mind down too," Psi-Lord said as tears formed in his eyes.

"Walt, do it. This is like our role-playing games, except this time it's my turn to shine and be a hero. I can feel him pushing me free, do it Walt, please," Dan pleaded as Walt felt the tears of all his ESPeople.

"For you, Dan, the hero," Walt said as he used all his might as Overshadow and Dan screamed and then went silent as Overshadow and Dan hit the ground, brain dead.

"It's over, McCoy. Give up or be put down," Creed said as the two looked at each other, covered in each other's blood.

"No it's not. I have this and the means to return home. So long losers," McCoy smiled as the devises he had placed on the Tallus chimed indicated they were ready.

From the devises on the Tallus, three cords shot out and plunged into Supernatural, Freefall and Wormhole. The Tallus was now draining the power of influencing nature, negating gravity and opening wormholes. McCoy pushed a button on the Tallus, grinned big and waved as in a flash of light a portal opened. Just as quickly, the portal closed taking McCoy, the Tallus and the three paranormals attached to it with it. They all stared in shock as once again McCoy had gotten away. Mimic swore as Psi-Lord mourned another loss.

"Darn it, now what?" Blink swore.

"ESPeople, to me quickly. If we act fast enough I think we hitch you guys a ride. We can't send you home but we can send you were he went," Psi-Lord said as he and the remaining ESPeople joined hands and merged their powers.

"Just do it," Blink said as she raised her arm with the Tallus on it.

Walt nodded as powerful psionic energy hit her and caused the Tallus to light up. A cable made of energy seemed to flow from the Tallus and vanish into nothing where Dark Beast had been. Blink screamed as large purple javelins shot from her and soared in every direction. Then in one powerful burst of light, Blink and all the Exiles had vanished from sight. Walt and his team dropped to their knees in exhaustion and looked around.

"Looks like it worked," Mary Lou said.

"Yeah, but it looks like that some of the Paranormals that were too close got pulled with them too," Victor said as he glanced around.

"Now what? Go home and let the authorities clean this up?" Keith asked already knowing the answer.

"No, hiding at our home will do us and this world no good. I say we stay here, take control of this place and turn it into what it was meant to do. There are more Paranormals out there and we can use this place to help them," Walt said as the others smiled in agreement and they began the rebuilding.

* * *

_**Outsiders Beginnings**_

**Secret Wars – Part One**

_**Earth-Time Quake – Several Years Later**_

_**Avengers Mansion**_

"Man, I am really getting tired of these jumps through time," Black Axe said as he stared at the mansion before him.

"Quit complaining and get inside. We don't want to miss what's coming next," Phoenix said as they moved into the building.

"So what are we supposed to be seeing here?" Black Axe asked.

"Despite the Altered Destinies, time tried correcting itself and pushed forward. Everything was going as normal up until now. Iron-Man and the others built a great and heroic reputation for the Avengers. Captain America is now the leader and Scarlet Spider, Mr. Stretch and Iron-Man are still apart of the team. Because of the new lineup of the Avengers, Wasp and Giant-Man ended up getting married and gave birth to a girl, Hope who will grow up to become the Outsider known as Red Queen.

"With those two on leave, Hawkeye and Vision have stepped into their spots on the team. Since they have agreed six is enough for a team, they have created reservists that live and train in the mansion. The current reservists are Captain Marvel, She-Hulk, Tigra, Starfox, Black Knight and Moondragon. Today, they are all here to welcome their visitors, Wasp, Giant-Man and little Hope," Phoenix said as they found themselves in a room full of heroes and one little girl.

"What now?" Black Axe asked getting vary board.

"Watch," Phoenix said as they waited.

As they all sat there talking and reminiscing, a white orb appeared out of nowhere. Everyone jumped to defense mode as they tried to figure out what it was and what it was doing there. Before anyone could react, white beams shot out of the orb and hit Mr. Stretch, Wasp, She-Hulk, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Hawkeye and Iron-Man causing them to vanish from sight. The orb then immediately blasted out of the mansion and out of sight. The remaining Avengers began to shout in panic and search the area for their missing comrades and the white orb.

"Hurry, we need to go," Phoenix said as she tugged him out of the mansion.

"Wait, what about them and?" Black Axe began to ask when Phoenix cut him off mentally.

"Don't worry. They will be spending the rest of the time trying to find their friends until they return. We must reach the destination before the white orb does," Phoenix said as they arrived at a very familiar mansion.

"What are we doing back at Xavier's?" Black Axe asked as they headed into the mansion.

"This isn't Xavier's anymore. After Xavier and his team went underground, Mimic took over the property and started his school for mutants. They have done a great job trying to make relations between mutants and humans a good one. Calvin's current team is his girlfriend Storm, Dazzler, Sunfire, Nightcrawler, Colossus and Havok, the brother of the late Scott Summers," Phoenix said as they went around back where the mutants were all hanging out around their pool.

Just like before, a white orb flew down and hovered over them. They all jumped up as the orb shot out white beams of light. In an instant, Nightcrawler, Storm, Mimic and Colossus vanished form sight. As everyone panicked, the white orb raced off into the sky above. Before Black Axe could say anything, Phoenix pulled at him and he soon found himself standing on a small island. Black Axe looked around and then waited for the narration he knew was coming.

"This is Genosha. This is where Professor X and his Extreme X-Men hide out. After all this time, he has managed to keep Sabretooth, Gambit, Longshot, Caliban and Namor on his team. In addition, he has managed to recruit three more mutants. Gambit's girlfriend Rouge, John Proudstar or Thunderbird and Havok's ex-girlfriend Polaris," Phoenix explained as Black Axe sighed as he waited for the white orb.

As if on queue, the white orb appeared and soared around blasting mutants with white beams. In a flash, Professor X, Rouge and Sabretooth vanished from sight. Before Black Axe could see the remaining mutant's reactions they had begun to fly upwards into the sky. Before they got to high up in the atmosphere, Phoenix compelled him to stop for a moment. "Yes?" He asked.

"At this moment, the orb will go to Canada and claim the Alpha Flight member known as Wolverine, break into S.H.I.E.L.D. and kidnapped Hulk and Reed Richards, and lately picking up Daredevil and Johnny Storm. Before heading to Asgard to pick up Thor and Enchantress which will result in bringing Midgard and Asgard together finally, the orb will also pick up villains Dr. Doom, Kang, the Wrecking Crew, Lizard, Dr. Octopus, Absorbing Man, Molecule Man and Titania and Galactus," Phoenix said.

"So where did the orb send these people?" Black Axe asked.

"To a place created by the Beyonder to wage battle against one another," Phoenix responded.

"If I get your memories correctly, didn't that happen to the main universe? Don't they all get home anyway, no harm done?" Black Axe said trying to probe for more within their mind.

"Yes, but there is one difference. Since Spider-Man doesn't exist on my world, he won't be there to find the Venom Symbiote. Instead, someone else finds it," Phoenix said as they suddenly shot off into deep space.

**Next: Issue #32 – Back At The Crystal Palace & Outsiders Beginnings: Secret Wars – Part Two**


	33. Back at the Crystal Palace

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #32 – Back At The Crystal Palace**

_**The Crystal Palace**_

Power Pack suddenly came to and realized that the room was pitch black. She could smell smoke and burnt hair and flesh all around her. It took her a minute before she recalled what had happened. She had just sent Cal and Creed and a few other Exiles on a mission to find Blink. BattleStar had gotten upset about being left behind and was going off as she communicated with the away team. Something happened and she lost contact with them. Before she could figure out the problem, some kind of large glowing object had slammed into the Crystal Palace causing an explosion that rocked the place. She rubbed her head as her whole body suddenly burned with pain.

She closed her eyes and reached deep within herself and called on one of her powers. Her body glowed momentarily and the pain faded away as her body healed. Not only did she feel better but she could feel the energy within herself from absorbing the impact of the explosion. Normally her body used and feed off that energy till it was gone, but this time she chose to release it. As she released it, her body began to glow and she could see. She didn't know how long it would last, so she made her way back to the computer console.

The system looked bad. After a few minutes she had gotten enough fixed to get the emergency lights to kick on and the Crystal Palace's self repair going. With a sigh she turned around and saw a huge hole where the object had crashed through the Palace. One the plus side, at least it was only this section and room that had been destroyed and not the entire Palace. As she waited for the self repair and cleaning to begin a moan reminded her of the others. How could she have forgotten? She quickly moved as she continued to try and clear her head.

"Palace, read life signs," Power Pack asked.

"Error, insufficient power and system resources to execute commands at this time. Estimated repair and systems online in one hour," the systems computer voice crackled overhead.

"Figures, everyone okay?" Alexis asked as she looked around the dim lit room and debris.

"Over here," the owner of the moan came again.

"T.J.!" Alexis exclaimed as she saw the blue skinned exile pinned under a chunk of crystal from the ceiling.

"Can't move. Hit my head hard. Pain too great to concentrate on a spell," Nocturne said as she fought to stay conscious as Alexis clearly saw the blood flowing from a gash in her forehead.

"Hold on," Power Pack said as she put her hands on the crystal and called on her powers.

Power Pack could feel the gravity negating around her hands and then extend around the object. The effects gave her the super strength she needed as she grabbed the chunk of crystal, lifted it off of Nocturne and tossed it across the room with ease. She then knelt down next to Nocturne, looking at her injuries and wondering what to do next.

"We need to get her to the medical facility," BattleStar said as he walked over to them with a light limp.

"It won't do us any good. What ever hit us took the whole Palace systems offline," Power Pack explained.

"Leah," Nocturne murmured as she was baked in a warm glow.

"Smell of death is gone," Sunfire said as she came out of the shadows.

"Nice," BattleStar glared at the Exile turned vampire.

"Are you okay?" Power Pack asked as she helped Nocturne to her feet.

"I was able to take care of the worst of it but my bodies still sore and my head's still a little groggy," Nocturne said as she looked around the room. "Wow, quite the mess."

"We're all accounted for but what about the other four?" BattleStar said as she glanced around the room.

"I can smell them, but I can smell death on two of them," Sunfire said as she flew around the room in a streak of fire looking.

They all moved as quickly as they could in the darkened wreckage. They found the mutant called Skullfire. His ability to absorb energy protected him from the explosion. He had a few cuts and bruises but nothing too serious. The alien from Earth-116X, Century had a series of super abilities that helped him survive the impact of the glowing object. Sunfire had found Janet Van Dyne from Earth-5281. She was knocked unconscious but her vitals were strong. This confused Sunfire why this woman was completely healthy but still had a scent of death about her. She would worry about it later. She had one more scent coated with death to follow.

"Here she is," Sunfire said as they found the mutant from Earth-7756 called Khaos. She was pinned to the wall by a large sharp spear-like piece of crystal. When the room exploded a piece of the wall had been sent with great force across the room and Petra Maximoff had unfortunately been caught in its path. She was moments from death and there wasn't anything medically they could do to save her.

"Can't you cast a spell to save her?" Power Pack asked.

"My magic won't work that way. I can heal but to an extent. She is practically cut in half and most of her vital organs are severed. I would literally have to tap into necromancy to come close to bringing her back to life and I am not that powerful or experienced with this body to do that," Nocturne said.

"I could save her, but," Sunfire said with a nervous smirk.

"Absolutely not. I will not condone vampirism," Battle Star protested.

"Vampires aren't all that bad," Skullfire said as he eyed the woman.

"As much as I hate to see her die, the last thing we need is an uncontrollable vampire on the loose," Power Pack said.

"I agree. Such monsters are unpredictable and should be abolished," Century added.

"Hey," Sunfire growled baring her teeth as Century summoned his Parallax staff.

"Back down, vampire, Calvin isn't here to protect you," BattleStar said igniting his photon shield.

"But I am, now back dawn, both of you. Sunfire may be a vampire but she is a dear friend and has proven as much. Sunfire, you have never turned anyone and we can't take the chance that they will be an in control as you and right now we can't deal with that," Nocturne said.

"What do we do, we can't just leave her like this can we?" Power Pack cried.

"Allow me," Nocturne said as she cast a spell to place her into a deep comfortable sleep.

Century activated and whirled Parallax and struck the wall behind Khaos. A portal opened up and she was sucked into it. He then tapped the staff on the ground and the portal closed with no sign of the dying woman anywhere. Century than deactivated the glowing staff and put it away upon his back. Everyone stared at him for a moment.

"Where did you send her?" BattleStar asked.

"I don't know. Being as this place is between realities I don't know how my portals work," Century said with a shrug.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I sure wouldn't mind figuring out what actually caused all this damage," Skullfire said as he moved towards a giant sphere imbedded into the far wall.

"What is it?" Nocturne asked as they all made their way to the thing that had crashing into their Palace.

"I don't know. Maybe it's a spaceship of some sort?" Power Pack asked as she moved closer.

"Don't' get too close. For all we know it could be a bomb or something," BattleStar said as he noticed not a single scratch or knick upon on the sphere.

Just as Nocturne touched the cool sphere, it suddenly came to life as it glowed with a bright light. They all stepped back as what appeared to be a hatch opening from the front of it. A strange glowing figure made of light and what seemed like wings sprouting form its back stepped out. They all stared in awe and confusion as the being made a serious of odd noises and sounds. The being paused and then reached out what looked like a hand and touched the side of Nocturne's face. A pulse of light caused Nocturne to fall backwards and the being of light started to convulse.

The Exiles watched as it seemed the being of light started to crystallize, crack and then shed its shell. After a few minutes a large pile of goop and hard pieces lay upon the floor while a more human looking being stood in the center of it. The being of light now appeared to be made of flesh and was now a very beautiful woman with long blond hair and large feathery white wings. While everyone one, including Sunfire stared in fascination, Nocturne cast a spell causing a robe-like outfit to appear and clothe the naked woman.

"Thanks, and sorry about that back there. I tend to forget my form and had to borrow an imprint form you so that I may look like your species and obtain your language," the woman with wings said as she glanced at the odd group around her and the damaged Palace. "Well, I see something horrible has happened here."

"Actually, Miss, but this damage was caused when you flew your ship right into us," BattleStar said with a nervous stutter.

"Oh my, it appears you are correct. I was never good at navigating those things. Allow me," the woman said as she touched the sphere and made a few weird noises as light erupted from here hand.

The sphere glowed bright and then instantly dissected into a million little glowing pieces. It almost looked like lightening bugs. They then swarmed at the computer console exploding into a bright light as each one vanished upon impact of the console. As the last "lightening bug" vanished and the light faded, the whole Crystal Palace lit up as power was fully restored. It seemed the "bugs" had powered up and increased the speed of repair and just by looking around it would be a matter of minutes before everything would be back as it were before the sphere crashed into them.

"There, all better. The fact that the ones calling themselves Time Brokers are nowhere to be found and you all are here justifies me being here and that something has gone wrong," the woman said as she looked at each of them.

"Who are you?" Century asked in awe of the beautiful woman with wings.

"Wait as I try to find a translation comparable to your tongue. Got it, you can call me LaDonna. Now, please tell me what has happened to the Time Brokers," LaDonna requested.

"Wait, before we tell you anything you're going to tell us what you're doing here and how you know this place and it's keepers," Nocturne said as she seemed to be the only one not caught up in the woman's spell.

"Of course, my dear. I am part of a race you that you would call in your language, Continuum Coordinators. Our job is to make sure all life in all universes in all realities flow the path they are intended to. As time and reality expands and evolves and more and more realities and universes appear, generating so much new life within them, it has gotten harder to keep an eye on everything.

"You have no concept about how many pockets of time, universes and realties are out there. Each of us Coordinators are given our own pockets to look out for and manage. Each pocket has numerous realities, multi-verses and worlds within it. As time, if you may, moved on, it got harder and harder to regulate them as anomalies began to occur and I couldn't be everywhere at one. Then I met a being in one reality that gave me an idea on how to better manage and repair these realities when needed before it was too late.

"At different junctions, I created these Crystal Palaces giving it the power to monitor and regulate all the different realities and universes assigned to it. I then selected and in some cases created being to run each Palace. This made things so much easier to coordinate and the fact that the Palace almost completely stops the aging process, it is very rare to have to re-staff the Palaces. The ones here, calling themselves the Time Brokers, came up with the idea and formula for pulling people from realities to serve as squads to go in and undo damages to realities. This made things so efficient that it has been incorporated by all Continuum Coordinators.

"Now, in case something happened a fail safe was put in place, the Time Task Force. A Time Regulator would make sure that the anomaly would be taken care of and the major disaster would be set back on the right path. They would also fix any damage to the Palace and, worse case scenario, run the palace till new staff could be placed in it. Now I received notice of a major Quake but it had been successfully fixed by the Time Brokers. At this time, I was approached by one of my closest confidants, Roma.

"She said this started something and that something bad was coming and she could feel it. Being the worrier she is, I disregarded her warning. I thought all was well until three things happened. One, I felt a great ripple appear out of nowhere and then vanish. Two, word got to me that Roma had died and she said it was coming. Lastly, this Palace registered the Time Task Force being activated, but then going off grid without any contact. I found Roma's son and he has continued on for his mother and is assembling a team. I then agreed to come here and check things out," LaDonna explained.

"We are the Exiles, a small part of the team put together by your Time Brokers. We're afraid your squad has gone rouge and we arrived back here at the palace to find that an evil lady has killed them all," Power Pack said as she found she could now pull up the system to replay everything back for LaDonna that has happened since the Quake.

"I should have listened better to Roma. She was right," LaDonna said as she touched the computer and with her powers caused the tapes to play back at super speed bringing her up-to-date in seconds.

"What is going on?" BattleStar asked.

"It seems I have failed in my duties and the end Roma predicted has begun," LaDonna said as she stared at the hundreds of monitors that flashed continuously different worlds per second.

* * *

_**Outsiders Beginnings**_

**Secret Wars – Part Two**

_**Earth-Time Quake**_

_**Beyonder's Battle World**_

"Where are we?" Captain Marvel asked as she looked around at the strange planet they stood on and the collection of heroes around her.

"Hope, Hank? Where are they?" Wasp began to panic.

"I'll be," Johnny Storm said as a stern silence hovered between the reunited Ben, Reed and himself.

"You did this didn't you? We should kill you," Sabretooth snarled at Mimic.

"Hold off everyone. I can tell you that no one here is responsible for this. I sense a very alien mind about this place," Professor X said.

"Like we should believe anything you say," Storm said as she stood near her man, Calvin.

"Who dares kidnap the mighty Thor?" Thor said as he stared at all the strangers before him.

"It seems we are not alone," a voice said from above them.

They all stopped their bickering and worrying to look up and see Doctor Doom and various other villains. Two were unknown but the man called Thor identified the woman as the Enchantress and the legendary world eater Galactus, who he thought was a lot smaller in person. Before they could react to each other's presence, a being with black curly hair, white glowing eyes and a white outfit appeared between them. The new comer smiled as he spoke in a voice that carried out to all of them loudly and clearly.

"I am the Beyonder and the only way to get off this planet and return to your own world is to battle each other to the death," Beyonder laughed and then vanished.

"Wait, this could be good. I don't want to miss it," Black Axe pleaded as he felt Phoenix pulling him away from the scene.

"Their battle is not important to us. Watch is more important is what two individuals are doing off on their own," Phoenix responded in his mind.

They moved and found themselves in a small base. Inside looked to be different species in tubes and various weapon looking devices. Black Axe thought it was empty when two figures came crashing inside. As they both figures stumbled to their feet he saw that one was a short fat man with mechanical arms on his back and the other was a lizard looking creature. The lizard looked fine but the other man's costume was torn to shreds and some of the mechanical arms looked limp while others were severely damaged.

"Darn that Thor. He will pay for what he did to me," Doctor Octopus said as he wiped the blood from his nose.

"Maybe we can find something of use in here?" The Lizard hissed looking around at the various devises.

"What's this?" Doctor Octopus asked as she saw a weird black goop.

"What did you find?" Lizard asked.

"I, oh, it's just a black suit. Guess it's better than nothing since mine is shot," Octopus said as he changed outfits.

It was like a black spandex suit but seemed to slide right on. The black suit covered his body and surprisingly fit perfect. The face mask pulled up and over stopping at his eyed leaving the top of his hair and his mouth uncovered. He glanced over at a reflective metal to see how he looked and he noticed the suit had somehow covered his mechanical arms too giving them life again. He had never felt better or stronger. He went to move and his arms shot out with great force and propelled him right back to the fight.

"So Doctor Octopus is the one that find the alien symbiote," Black Axe commented.

"Yes, and now it's time we take leave and head a year into the future to see the effects of that suit and the creation of one other Outsider," Phoenix said.

"Wait, don't you want to watch how the battle here ends?" Black Axe asked feeling cheated on this adventure.

"It isn't necessary. No matter who dies and what happens, the Beyonder restores everyone back to life and sends them back to where he found them with no memory of the battle," Phoenix says as they soar back towards Earth.

"You know, I feel very cheated out of this tale," Black Axe pouted.

"Trust me, it wasn't a tale worth telling and there will be some better tales to come with battles that actually stick to what happens," Phoenix responded.

"Then what was the point of going there?" Black Axe said.

"So you could witness who discovered the symbiote and yes, it was something relevant to see than just tell so you can see the origin of the suit before we witness the actual creation of the Outsider. You see, when the Beyonder sent everyone back he missed the symbiote and sent it back inadvertently with Doctor Octopus," Phoenix said.

"I thought that was what happened?" Black Axe questioned.

"No, he found the suit. What we are going to see now, a year from this secret war, how Doctor Octopus became the Outsider and Hero called OctaSym," Phoenix explained.

"Seems the Beyonder made one mistake that leads to a good thing," Black Axe said.

"Not really. Because of the combination of people he picked to go to this Secret War, three other things happened that he didn't catch that will lead to great devastation to my world and those that live on it," Phoenix said.

"What is that?" Black asked with grave interest.

"Galactus, who was actually a lat larger than he appeared in real life, may not remember the battle, but his cosmic hunger will be grand enough to pick up a faint trail that a Harold of his will find and discover Earth and lead him here. Also, pulling Thor here and back, he accidently repaired the Rainbow Bridge and soon the Gods of Asgard will descend upon Mid-Gard," Phoenix said.

"Awesome, so what's the third thing?" Black Axe asked.

"The mutant named Wolverine had been pricked by something on this world. His healing factor killed it but it also left a small particle in him. This particle will not only in time make his healing factor not as effective against anymore of it's type in the future but will act as a homing beacon that will eventually lead the Phalanx to Earth," Phoenix said as a hint of pain and sadness could be felt in her mind.

"I can't wait to see that," Black Axe smiled but mentally and physically.

"In due time. First we move a year forward and see the creation of the next two Outsiders," Phoenix said bluntly and with resentment for the first time against the Black Axe body for his pleasure he had just expressed.

**Next: Issue #33 – The Second Age of Apocalypse – Part One: This begins the crossover event with X-Calibur that will decimate both teams & Outsiders Beginnings: A Tale of Two Outsiders**


	34. The Second Age Of Apocalypse Part One

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #33 – The Second Age of Apocalypse – Part One**

_**Earth-295 **_

"Finally I am…home?" The large dark furred form of the Dark Beast asks turning his cheer into concern as a bright light flashes dropping him and three others into a grassy field.

The evil, twisted creature known as McCoy jumps left and right as he looks around at the peaceful surroundings. He knew this couldn't be right, this couldn't be his home. When last he left, this place had been in dark ruins as Apocalypse ruled and the X-Men desperately tried to defeat him. McCoy also knew that even if Magneto and his X-Men had won, the nukes would have finished the rest of this place off. Instead of the wasteland he had been hoping for he was in what looked like a wretched Disney story. He glanced down at the Tallus, now fused to his right arm, to see if his plan had gone wrong.

"Where are we?" The Paranormal known as Freefall asked, shaking the effects of the portal jump.

"Somewhere I don't recognize," Dark Beast growled as the Tallus, now powerless, gave it's last reading before dying, "Earth-295 (AOA)".

McCoy stopped and then turned to face the person he had answered. He had almost forgotten that he had used three of the Paranormals to power his Tallus to go home. It seemed that not only had it worked but it had brought them along with him. He glanced over and saw the shaky forms of Freefall, Wormhole and Supernatural. His first instinct was to kill them or abandoned them, but he may be in need of their combined powers to work the Tallus again in case this truly wasn't his home. He reached into his side pouch and threw three devised that latched around the Paranormal's necks.

"What the?" Supernatural asked as she tugged at the collar around her neck.

"Remove these or so help me," Wormhole began to say when a bolt of energy caused him to pause.

"Those collars around your neck will cause you pain if you try to act against me. Also, if you so much as try to remove them or disobey me, I press this small little button and they will blow up taking your head with them. Now sit down and let me think," Dark Beast demanded as the three sat down, being shocked several times till they believed McCoy's threats.

"Where do you think we are?" Freefall whispered.

"My guess is we are in an alternate dimension," Supernatural said as she pulled on her years of RPG experience.

"What do we do? How do we get home?" Wormhole asked as he tried to remain calm.

"I hope everyone is okay," Supernatural said thinking of her friends that she may never see again.

"Shut up you three before I tear your tongues out," Dark Beast said as he continued to pace back and forth staring at the Tallus.

"Well, if it isn't the evil Dr. McCoy," a voice came out of nowhere.

"Who's there? Show yourself," Dark Beast demanded.

A woman who looked rough and well into her thirties stepped out of the darkness. Beast blinked his eyes wondering were she came from when he realized the darkness was a person wearing a blue hooded cloak. Standing next to him was another older woman wearing a very skimpy black leather outfit, short blond spiky hair and earrings in the shape of daggers. Dark Beast smiled at the sight of the three and moved towards them with fangs and claws ready.

"McCoy, here we thought you had been killed along with Sinister, Apocalypse and the rest of the big baddies. Then again, anyone can escape death," the man in the cloak said.

"Well, Cloak, if you, Dagger and Amazon think you can take me you have another thing coming," Dark Beast said as leapt at the hooded man.

"You are mistaken, on all counts, McCoy," the man said as the cloak swallowed all three causing them to vanish and McCoy to hit empty air.

"Am I now?" McCoy sneered as he turned around to face the three that had appeared behind him.

"Yes, Cloak died a few years ago when, after being left for dead by Nightcrawler and Dazzler, I managed to adapt, survive and consume Cloak from the inside out killing him and taking his place as owner of the cloak," the man said as he removed his hood to reveal his long wavy brown hair and glowing red eyes upon skin now the color of pure darkness.

"Gambit, that look suits you. The fact you three haven't tried to kill me makes me wonder," Dark Beast said as he stared at the changed man before him.

"That's because we want King Lehnsherr, his family and all the mutants of New Avalon dead and we need your help to do it" Gambit said.

"My help?" Dark Beast asked with a smirk.

"Yes, with your assistance and expertise we can help Apocalypse rise again," Gambit said with a laugh that made the Paranormals shiver with fear.

_**A few thousand miles away**_

"Are we all accounted for?" Mimic asked as the blinding flash vanished and they found themselves standing in the rooftop of a warehouse.

"Yes, even Morph who is still can't reform himself from a pile of goop," Blink said as she looked over at Krystalin who was holding the goop in a small crystal container she had crafted and then over at Chameleon who was keeping watch over the altered and unconscious Thunderbird.

"It appears we have some stragglers," Creed said as he nudged his head to the side.

They all looked over and saw that a bunch of the Paranormals had accidently been brought here with them when they teleported out. Lying on the ground were two other unconscious mutations of the Dark Beast's DP7, Chill and Mastodon. Gathered near them were the other Paranormals looking lost, frightened and some even ready to demand answers. Mimic stared as he quickly remembered their names. There was Bazooka, Indigo, Mothball, Dynamite, Interface, Twilight, Viva, Blurr, and Scorcher. He turned back towards the others trying to figure out what they were going to do with them.

"We need to send them back," Mimic said.

"I don't think that's going to be possible. The Tallus is dead and the only thing it reads is we are on my Earth," Blink said as Creed looked around.

"Sure doesn't look like home. Someone's sure cleaned up the place," Creed said sniffing the air and finding it quite breathable.

"I always thought you said this place was so horrible you never wanted to come back?" Mimic asked looking at Blink.

"It was, but something's different now," Blink said looking around at the normal city around them.

"Who do you suppose that castle-like building belongs to?" Krystalin asked pointing to a large skyscraper that was almost in the shape of a castle.

"That's the palace of King and Queen Lehnsherr. You mind telling us why a bunch of unregistered mutants and power based being are gathered on this rooftop?" A voice said from above them.

They all looked up to see an older woman pushing fifty with black skin and white hair floating in the air above them with a icy looking figure to her left and a man with one eye and another man with blue skin and a tail hovering in the air to her right thanks to a woman in a black and red outfit with fiery eyes and hair. Blink had to take a moment because, despite the vast age difference, they looked like her old friends form the X-Men. She glanced at Creed and she could tell by his facial expression he was as perplexed as she was.

"Ororo, is that you?" Blink asked the older woman.

"How, Blink, Creed, you're both alive?" Storm suddenly gasped.

"It is them," Nightcrawler said as he ported around them as the rest of his group landed beside them on the rooftop.

"Where have you been all this time?" Storm asked.

"We were abducted but more of that later. What happed to Apocalypse and the missiles?" Creed asked getting to the point.

"He was defeated almost twenty years ago and thanks to Jean here, her power flared and saved us all from the nukes. After that Erik gathered what X-Men remained and spent the next ten years rebuilding and getting rid of any remaining followers of Apocalypse. Magneto and his bride Rouge were given control of North America, and renamed it New Avalon and became its rulers, striving to build a better world for all," Storm said giving a quick update.

"Twenty years, I can't believe it," Blink said as she tried not to stare at these older versions of her former teammates.

"As much as we enjoy a reunion, we better get them back to Xavier Estates. Would hate the public to see the King's Elite fraternizing with the unregistered," Cyclops said.

"See he's as charming as ever," Creed said.

"Scott's right. The King summons us now," Jean said as her power flares, engulfs everyone in a fiery tek field and they soar off towards the castle-like building.

_**Epilogue**_

"What is it?" Power Pack asked as she saw LaDonna look at the computer screens and then gasp.

"It appears that something and someone that should have been killed has both ended up on Earth-295. According to the readouts, if this isn't stopped they all will be combined with the being they call Apocalypse which will result in the end off all," LaDonna answered.

"That is why we must work together to put an end to this before it's too late," a man's voice said causing LaDonna and all of the Exiles to turn around to see a man in a white robe.

"Who are you?" BattleStar asked activated his shield.

"Roma!" LaDonna exclaimed at her old friend's son.

"Yes, LaDonna, I have come to help and I have brought my legion of warriors. With your help, we should be able to stop and put an end to King Lehnsherr and his X-Men before it's too late," Roma said as a light flashes behind him revealing a huge group of super powered beings.

* * *

_**Outsiders Beginnings**_

**A Tale of Two Outsiders**

_**Earth-Time Quake**_

_**Local Grocery Store**_

"I really think it's too soon for her to be dating," Peter Parker said as he pouted as he looked at the milk on the shelf.

"Cheer up, tiger. It's been two years since your uncle Ben died of a heart attack. With you becoming more and more involved with your college studies, your aunt is feeling lonely," Mary Jane Watson said as she ruffled Pete's hair.

"What do we know about this guy? He could be an axe murderer," Peter whined as he continued looking down the grocery list.

"Peter, listen to me. Doctor Octavius is a well known scientist. That's something you both have in common. Plus, May has been visiting with him almost everyday at the park for six months. He makes her happy and that's what counts. No matter what she still loves you," Jane began to lecture when a figure stepped from around the aisle.

"That I do, Peter as well as my dear Ben. I'm not looking to replace your uncle or run off and get married. We are two old geezers that enjoy each other's company. I don't want to be married but I also don't want to be alone," May said as she stepped next to her nephew taking his hand in hers.

"I know, Aunt May, it's just I miss Uncle Ben and I hate sharing you," he said with a faint smile.

"Don't worry, Peter, I'll always be here for you and," May began to say when a loud explosion interrupted her.

"What is going on?" May Jane asked as they looked towards the front of the store to see it in complete ruins.

Through the smoke and dust came a green and purple costumed man on a floating glider. As he looked around five more figures stepped into the grocery store. A fat man wearing a black costume with long tentacle looking arms sprouting form his back, another man wearing green and yellow with a mask that looked like lightening bolts, an old bald man with a green costume and zipping around with wings, another man with a brown and yellow costume with sparks coming form his hands and a man with a green and black striped sweater whose legs and arms looked like they were becoming sand. The six of them may look odd, but together they looked very evil.

"It's the Sinister Six, Dr. Octopus, Electro, Vulture, Sandman, Shocker and their leader the Green Goblin. I've read about them in the paper. They are a bunch of low key criminals that have recently joined together to become a super villain team," Peter Parker said as he tried to move his girlfriend and aunt towards the back as the Green Goblin began shouted demands of giving up one's valuable possessions.

"Where do you think you're going?" Doctor Octopus asked as Mary Jane and the Parkers were each grabbed by a black, metal feeling tentacle.

"Let us go," May shouted as she was turned to face her attacker.

"May?" Doctor Octopus asked as he suddenly paused and the tentacles put all three down on their own.

In the time that has passed since finding his new costume he had learned that it was not just a costume but an alien symbiote. It made him stronger and it thrived on hate and feed on killing. That had worked well for them until they had met May Parker. Her kindness and love had not only changed Octavius but the symbiote as well. Symbiote, for the first time in its races history had been overwhelmed with love. Each day Octavius was finding it harder to do crime because the alien costume that was bound to him would rather be with May. At times, he found himself becoming jealous of himself? It was weird but since they meet May Parker nothing made sense anymore and it didn't matter to them anymore.

"Otto?" May whispered as she looked into the man's eyes.

"May, I," Dr. Octopus began to say but was cut off.

"What re you doing you buffoon? Take their money already," Green Goblin shouted as he hovered over them.

"Oh, May, we're sorry," Dr. Octopus whispered as he looked at her and she smiled.

"Otto, I know you're not a bad man. You can let us go," May said with tears in her eyes as she touched his cheek.

"Back off lover girl," Green Goblin laughed as he back handed May with such force that the frail older woman flew across the store and hit the far wall with a loud crack.

"May!" Peter, Mary Jane and Dr. Octopus all shouted as Peter ran towards the woman who now lay very still.

"Mary Jane, I can't find a pulse," Peter screamed with tears.

"No," Otto heard the symbiote say out of his mouth as it felt another new emotion, heartbreak and caused the symbiote to pull off of his mechanical arms and reduce down to just a shirt and become translucent leaving Otto looking like a regular man with arms strapped to his back.

"You monster," Otto said as he knocked Green Goblin off his glider with his mechanical arms.

"I always knew you weren't cut out for this," Green Goblin said as Sandman and Vulture held the fat man down and with enhanced strength, he tore the mechanical arms right from Octavius's back.

"Leave him alone. Haven't you done enough?" Mary Jane shouted as Peter tried to stop her.

"Kill them," Green Goblin commanded as Shocker and Electro unleashed their powers, pinning Peter and Mary Jane to the wall.

"Otto, you have to save them," a very weak voice came from Aunt May.

At the sound of Mays plea something inside both Otto and the symbiote awoke. Otto was suddenly covered in black as the suit made its own tentacles on his back. The tentacles lashed out, grabbed Shocker and Electro and with great force through them out of the store. Vulture tired to fly away but the tentacles lashed out, grabbing the bird man and ripping the wings from him causing him to plummet to the ground. He then turned on the Goblin and all his tentacles took hold of the evil leader of the Sinister Six.

"All this for an old woman? You are pathetic Otto. In my armor, you can't hurt me," Green Goblin cackled.

Otto just stood there as Goblin suddenly stopped laughing. He had just realized that the tentacles, no matter how small they were, had found every crack and hole in his costume and has seeped through them and was now inside his armor as well as outside. Green Goblin screamed in horror as with great force, the tentacles ripped the body armor right off of him leaving him finally exposed to the world. Everyone, including the news crews that had arrived, had found out that the evil Green Goblin was none other than famous business tycoon, Norman Osborne. Before he could move, Otto now had now grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up in the air with his own strength enhanced hand.

"We should snap your neck now," Otto and the Sym said in unison.

"Otto, no. don't become like them. You're not a bad man," May sapped as Otto through the man aside and ran to her side, his costume pealing away form his face exposing it for May to see.

"May, we're so sorry," Otto said.

"Otto, you saved my children and for that I will forever be grateful. Promise me you will stop the evilness and be good. For that is the Otto I fell in love with," May said with her final breadth and Otto and the Sym screamed in sadness.

"You will pay for this Dr. Octopus," Norman shouted as the police hauled him away and began to approach Otto.

"Dr. Octopus died along with our true love. We are now, OctaSym and to fill the emptiness, we will feed on evil everywhere," OctaSym said as the symbiote covered Otto's whole body but his brown hair on top. The suit now had a dark green hue to it as a green octopus appeared on his chest and several symbiote tentacles formed and sprouted from their back. With one great push, the tentacles sent him up and out of the store.

"We must hurry," Phoenix said suddenly.

"What a waist. Something like that becoming a force of good. Where are we off to in such a hurry?" Black Axe asked.

"But a force that greatly kept the lower level criminals from ever evolving or thriving. Now we have to get across the city. Another Outsider is about to be born," Phoenix said as they suddenly found themselves on a roof top across from a research facility.

"A lot going on here," Black Axe said as on the roof he saw three figures fighting and down below in front of the research building a woman with silver hair has a gun pointed on a man with blond hair.

"That is Silver Sable down below. She and S.H.E.I.L.D. agent Wendell Vaughn have come here to investigate the building below. He has gone inside but by chance, Sable has discovered Johnny Storm who is top on the most wanted list of S.H.I.E.L.D.," Phoenix said.

"Those guys here on the roof top look familiar," Black Axe said as the battle too more of an interest with him.

"That is Daredevil and Elektra battling Bullseye," Phoenix said as she mentally willed him to pay attention.

Bullseye kicks Elektra sending her falling off the rooftop. As she falls Bullseye sends a couple sharp katana right after her. She closes her eyes as she, both katana collide into Silver Sable and crash through the research buildings front door. Before she can open her eyes and find out what hurts so bad, a large explosion causes the floor to cave in and the fall below. She sits up and realizes the pain is coming from a katana in her leg. She looks over and sees Silver Sable with the other katana in her chest.

"Better luck next time, Sable," Johnny Storm laughed as he turned invisible and got away.

"Are you okay?" Elektra asked as she pulled the katana from her leg.

"I've been better," Silver Sable said as she spat up blood.

"Don't anybody move. This place is under A.I.M. control now," a bunch of soldiers in yellow shouted.

Elektra looked over and saw two weird bracelets sitting in a pile of dust and Agent Vaughn standing next to it. She helped Sable to her feet and figured her best route out of here. Before she could move, the A.I.M. guards opened fire and killed Wendell Vaughn and the scientists near the bracelets. Elektra was torn between the soldiers and the injured Silver Sable.

"You have to get the Quantum Bands. That is was they are after," Silver Sable said as Elektra nodded and moved for them.

Just as she got close to them the A.I.M. guards opened fire on her. She had been so close but yet not close enough as she awaited the bullets to hit her. She flinched as she saw Silver Sable through herself in the line of fire and shove Elektra out of the way. Elektra hit the floor as she saw Silver Sable land next to the Bands. Two things happened next after Silver Sable grabbed the bands and threw them at Elektra. Silver Sable shouted for her to protect them with her life and died and then the Quantum Bands hit her arms and latched on to them. She could feel the pain surging in her, but once she gave into the power the pain vanished and she felt healed and born anew.

"Kill the one called Elektra," the guards shouted.

"Call me, Sable," Elektra said to honor the one who saved her life and gave her, her new powers.

Just by sheer thought, a yellow energy katana appeared in each hand. With her new weapons and energy charged body, she leapt into action and began to make short work of the A.I.M. agents.

"You have seen the creation of the two vigilantes and Outsiders known as OctaSym and Sable. It is time to go," Phoenix said.

"But I want to finish watching this," Black Axe said as he saw another A.I.M. guard taken out by the beautiful Elektra.

"I have something more important to show you," Phoenix said as they suddenly started to faze away.

"What is that?" Black Axe asks.

"We jump into the future a little to see my return and the attack of my former master, Apocalypse," Phoenix said with a shutter as leapt into the future.

**Next: Issue #34 – The Second Age of Apocalypse – Part Three: But be sure to check out X-Calibur # 30 for Part Two & Outsiders Beginnings: Fall of the Mutants**


	35. The Second Age Of Apocalypse Part Three

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #34 – The Second Age of Apocalypse – Part Three**

_**Earth-295 **_

_**Lehnsherr Manor**_

"Clarice, Creed, I guess rumors of your demise were a tad exaggerated," King Lehnsherr, the ruler of New Avalon and the X-Men said as he gave Creed a firm handshake and pat on the back.

"As was this world's," Blink added as she gave Rouge, Queen Lehnsherr a hug.

"It seems that by some miracle we survived the missile attack and Apocalypse was taken down," Queen Lehnsherr said.

"I was worried at first but it for some reason, Bishop succeeded in his mission and our world still survived. I immediately gathered the remaining X-Men and Human Forces and we made short work of any of Apocalypse's followers that were left and began rebuilding this world," King Lehnsherr said as he told them of their rebuilding efforts and how he was given North America to rule and renamed it New Avalon.

"I can't believe that the normals would just let another mutant take over," Creed said as they four sat down in their private reunion supper to catch up while the rest of their parties dined in another area.

"They really didn't have a choice. There was a momentary pause when the world blinked out of existence and then popped back. They didn't have the resources to take over, rebuild and hold off the evil fractions. We were the only logical choice so an agreement was made between them and Erik," Rouge said.

"It has taken ten years but the world is at peace and my rule has been accepted and trusted," Erik added.

"I can see that. For us it's been no time where you all have aged so much," Creed said.

"It's seems so weird. I barely recognized little Charles," Blink commented of Erik and Rouge's son.

"Yup, now that he's in his teens his powers have fully manifested so it's hard to keep him in check as well as out of any missions or battles," Rouge said.

"Enough about us and our aging, tell me of your adventures and how you came to survive," Erik said with a chuckle.

"It seems right before our deaths we were plucked out of this world by the Time Brokers," Blink said as she told them all of their adventures as the reality hoping group called the Exiles and the Crystal Palace.

"So McCoy also survived and you've followed him back here," Erik said with anger in his voice.

"By chance, but I am assuming his Tallus has to be as powerless as ours," Creed said.

"I wonder what he's up to?" Rouge asked.

"Hard to say but I assume he's returned to a world he wasn't expecting," Creed said with a chuckle.

"I assume you'd be correct. Still, his presence here is not good. He must be found and stopped. There are a few still out there that would come out of hiding to help him in any way," Erik said.

"It would be my pleasure to help hunt him down and give him what he deserves," Blink snarled as she hit her fist into her palm.

"Erik, should we?" Rouge began and stopped at her husband's gesture.

"Yes, we should mobilize our forces right away," Erik said with a look that Creed and Blink found odd.

_**Interlude**_

_**Underneath the Sewers**_

"I love what you've done with the place," McCoy, the evil mutant known as Dark Beast commented as they entered a small living quarters deep beneath the sewers of the city.

"It's the only place for us. For some reason this area here is some how protected and shielded from any type of outside scanning or detection," Dagger said as she eyed the three humans with collars around their necks.

"So what made you turn on your fellow X-Men?" McCoy asked as he realized there were ten others in the room. He somewhat recognized a few but time had advanced so much here that it was hard to recognize these older mutants.

"They left me for dead within Cloak. I escaped and now I want revenge, simple as that," Gambit said as the dark in his eyes swirled.

"I sense a secondary influence on that one," Supernatural whispered Wormhole.

"Silence!" McCoy barked as their collars zapped them.

"So it seems you have pets," Dagger said licking her lips.

"They are of no importance; the question is who are your friends?" McCoy asked.

"You might remember Vincente, Skin and Chamber. It seems when Generation Next was also left for dead by the X-Men these three had managed to survive and decided to join our cause," Gambit said as McCoy finally recognized the mutants with green skin, grey skin and the suave good looking one that had lead the group of youngsters.

Gambit them introduced a group that were intended to be Magneto's recruitment of New Mutants but Gambit had been able to get to these five before him. There was a monstrous bird creature called Beak, a girl in a green outfit and extendible claws called Kirika, a Japanese man in silver armor with an omega tattoo on his forehead called Silver Samurai, a skimpy dressed ninja looking woman with purple hair called Psylocke and that last McCoy recognized right away.

"Oh, Rahne my sweet. How I've missed my lab dog," McCoy smiled at the female werewolf who could only growl.

"Wolfsbane," Gambit said with a look that silenced the she-wolf.

"She was always a feisty one," McCoy chuckled as he then turned his attention to the last two.

"These two were humans who got mutated when the world blinked back into existence and were cast out and we took in," Amazon said.

"I give you Victor Von Doom and Gwen Stacy, formerly of the Human High Council," Gambit said referring to the group of humans that stood against Apocalypse and then disbanded after his defeat and Magneto took over.

"You may call me Dr. Doom," the man in the silver body armor and black hooded cloak that hid his hideously scared body and helps control his mutated bodies powers.

"This is Black Widow," Gambit said of the woman with blond hair and her mutated body that gave her three arms on each side, a bulging buttocks, and fangs extruding from her mouth. She clearly looked like a standing upright spider.

"As much as I would love to examine all of you, shall we get to where the body of Apocalypse is being held?" McCoy asked with excitement.

"How did he?" Amazon began to ask.

"You said to help him rise. I only assume you meant he survived or his body did and you were keeping it somewhere," McCoy smirked.

"Yes, his body did survive and I believe a spark may still lie inside and only you, his most trusted can bring him back," Gambit said.

"Then take me to our great master right away," McCoy said s he licked his lips and rubbed his hands together in pure joy.

_**Lehnsherr Manor – Outside Garden**_

Calvin Rankin, the mutant known as Mimic stood there as he looked at the group assembled outside. After their meeting Clarice and Creed had come back with the decision to help Erik hunt down McCoy and bring him in. The more he watched her interact with her old home world and how peaceful the place was from what she recalled, the more worried he got that she may never want to leave this place. He knew many of the Exiles over the years had always fought for the desire to go home, but the longer he did it the less he thought about returning himself. He was almost growing to enjoy going from battle to battle with Clarice by his side. If she stayed here, he had no idea what he would do. He rubbed his temples as he glanced at the group in the room with them.

Calvin was impressed with Magneto's force here and that wasn't even all of his mutants. He had many mutants and fractions working with the normals all of New Avalon to help keep the peace. There was Nightcrawler who had a much darker attitude, a woman named Switchback, Demask, another woman who had defected from Apocalypse and two rough looking girls called Lila Cheney and Jubilee. There was also a Storm with a black lightning bolt over her left eye, the chain smoking Dazzler and her husband Exodus. Not too far from them was the very annoying Iceman, a more dog-like version of Wild Child who instantly took a bonding to Creed, a very human looking Morph, a Sunfire made of pure fire, a one handed Logan called Weapon X and his wife Jean, a truly one-eyed Cyclopes, the Bedlam brothers, a young woman named Illyana and a red head named Sonique. The last was a young man with white hair with a brown streak in it known as the King and Queen's son, Charles.

It was quite the group and Calvin took them all in before glancing across the room where his team sat. The Paranormals that had tagged along were remaining calm and manageable for now which he appreciated. Thanks to Jean, she was not only able to revive Thunderbird, Mastodon and Chill, but had been able to remove Dark Beast's mental tampering. They were stuck in their new forms but at least had their minds and personalities back. Their only setback was that they had been unsuccessful in helping Morph escape his goop-like state. For know, Krystalin has taken upon herself to be his keeper. She made a small crystal container that she keeps him in and has attached it to her costumes side belt. Mimic hated seeing him like that but he felt a twinge of guilt for enjoying the peace and quiet.

"Okay, using Blink's Tallus we should be able to teleport right to its mate," Lila Cheney said.

"Hope she's referring to the other Tallus," Mimic said stepping up next to Blink and smiling.

"Not funny," Blink playfully glared.

"I hate to send a large force but who knows what we may be up against," Queen Lehnsherr said.

"Sending a large group may draw unwanted public attention. With the Exile's help we will send a small but strong force," King Lehnsherr said as they all agreed.

Illyana and Lila Cheney stepped up and each placed a hand on Blink's Tallus. Completing the circle was Jean who would combine her powers with the two teleporters and take them to Dark Beast's Tallus. Joining them would be seven others. Magneto himself would go along with Weapon X, Dazzler, Mimic, Thunderbird and the two Paranormals that Mimic knew and trusted to go in the field with them, Viva and Twilight. As much as Creed had wanted to go, it was decided that he and Storm needed to both remain behind to watch over the remaining people and the manor. As they nodded, the group suddenly vanished from sight.

"Well, hopefully they have more fun than we do," Charles pouted, having wanted to go.

"Son, you know," Rouge began to say when suddenly something hit the side of the manor causing the building to explode fiercely.

They all looked up and gasped as they saw a man in a white outfit in robe floating in the air with a legion of beings behind them. "Remember, for us to succeed all of them must die!" Amor shouted as his army dove at the group below.

* * *

_**Outsiders Beginnings**_

**Fall of the Mutants**

_**Earth-Time Quake**_

_**Nebraska Cornfields**_

"Why are we in the middle of a cornfield?" Black Axe asked as he looked around and saw nothing but corn for miles.

"Because, this is the first of three major battles for the mutants that will lead to their fall and towards the end of my world," Phoenix said within his mind.

"Wait, I see something," Black Axe said as a glowing portal opened and six figures walked out.

"Those would be the group of young mutants, Mirage, Cypher, Boomer, Magic, Warlock and Cannonball calling themselves Gen-X. They are a group that refused to stay at Moira's hidden base for mutants. They have banded together and making quite the name for themselves in the world. They have gained the attention of three parties," Phoenix said.

"I see," Black Axe nodded as a ship landed and Mimic and his X-Factor team stepped out.

Black Axe watched as Phoenix filled him on details as the group walked out. Mimic with his girlfriend Storm, Dazzler and her man Havok, Sunfire, Nightcrawler, Colossus and two new members of the group he hadn't seen last time. A short hairy feral looking man was called Wolverine. Mimic had found him in Canada and was his answer to Professor X's Sabretooth. The last one was a beautiful woman with purple hair calling herself Psylocke. Not only did she add something to his team having telepathic abilities, she had stolen Colossus' heart. The new X-Factor was here to recruit the six young mutants.

Before Gen-X could react to the arrival of X-Factor, another ship arrived. Black Axe recognized the team of Extreme X-Men. He saw Professor X come out along with Sabretooth, Gambit, Longshot, Caliban, Namor, Rouge, Thunderbird and Polaris. There were no new changes to the team except for the love connection that had formed between Longshot and Polaris. At first sight it was all Professor X and Mimic could do to keep their teams from attacking each other.

"Leave now," Mimic told Professor X.

"I don't think so. We are here to obtain these young mutants," Sabretooth snarled.

"I don't think so. They contacted us to come get them," Wolverine growled back.

"Okay, I don't know who you people think you re, but no one is obtaining us," Mirage said as Cypher squeezed her shoulder.

"And we as heck didn't call either of you guys. Someone contacted us and told us to come here. Which one of you was it?" Cannonball demanded.

"We didn't contact you, we got a message from you to meet here," Mimic said.

"Same here. Seems someone contacted all three of our teams but whom?" Professor asked as he looked around.

"That would be our boss. He sent us here to retrieve the youngens for him," a woman with blue skin said.

"It's the Brotherhood," Professor X said at the eight mutants suddenly standing on the other side of Gen-X.

Black Axe liked where this was going as he took in the group of evil mutants. Their leader, Mr. Sinister along with the blue woman Mystique, Toad, Avalanche, Destiny, Pyro and Crimson Commando all stood ready for battle. Before he could get too far into what he was seeing, he was picking up from Phoenix that the best was yet to come.

"You think you all stand a chance against the lot of us?" Polaris asked rising into the air.

"Actually, you are all here as test for the survival of the fittest," a large man blue man said appearing out of nowhere.

"Who?" Nightcrawler asked at the strange man.

"I am Apocalypse and these are my four horsemen," the one called Apocalypse said as a portal opened and four figures came flying out. As familiar as they may or may not seem to the others, Charles Xavier, despite the altered blue skin and modifications, he knew his students he thought lost.

"Famine," Apocalypse said as the one once called Iceman seemed to draw the moister out of the air making all of them feel weaker.

"Pestilence," the evil mutant said as the one once called Angel flew around with bladed wings with points that dripped of poison.

"War," their master announced as the one called Cyclops came out with a large glowing visor on his face.

"And my masterpiece, Death," Apocalypse cheered as Black Axe gasped at the radiating beauty of Marvel Girl.

"Stop them," Mimic and Professor X said in unison as the groups collided in battle.

"My students hear me," Charles pleaded to the Horsemen but got dead silence.

"Sorry, Charles but I've killed the mental airwaves," Death said as she flicked her wrist and sent the bald man flying back against the ship and crushing his legs.

"Scott, I thought you were dead. It's me, your brother Alex," Havok said as Cyclops whole body seemed to explode as a powerful beam shot out and hit Havok and sending him clear across the cornfields.

"We need to get out of here," Warlock said as he looked at his girlfriend, Magic.

"You kids are not going anywhere," Mystique said as the Brotherhood blocked their path.

"Yeah, you'll be coming with us," Toad said as he flicked his tongue at Mirage.

"Over my dead body," Cypher said stepping in front of Mirage.

"Works for me," Crimson Commando said as he pulled out a gun and blew a hole through the young mutants head.

"Doug!" Mirage screamed at the sight of her fallen teammate and partner.

"You'll pay for that," Magic said as she drew her sword and swung her sword taking Destiny's head off when Pyro ducked.

"Irene. Pyro torch them," Mystique cried as Pyro flicked his wrists and Magic and Warlock found themselves burning alive in a wall of fire.

"You've killed them," Boomer cried as she threw two energy balls that landed on Pyro's back and exploded causing the gasoline back pack to now only explode into nothing but taking the back of Pyro's head with it.

"This is not going well," Blob said as the rest of the Brotherhood advanced on what was left of Gen-X.

"You think you can stop me?" Famine said as he began to get bulkier with ice as pulled the moisture out of Psylock's body making her skin shrink against her bones.

"Stop your killing her," Colossus said as he punched the man of ice and shattering him.

"No, I am," Pestilence said as he flew by and sank a dozen poison tipped wing darts into the purple haired girls body causing her to foam at the mouth and die.

"I will crush you," Colossus screamed as he charged at the winged man and then froze.

"You may be made of steel up you still can't escape Death," Death smiled as she lifted the man in the air and mentally forced him to revert back to flesh. "War, darling."

With a nod from the red haired bringer of death, War released a blast that ripped the Russian mutant in two. Wolverine leapt and slashed the visor right off War's face leaving a gash on his cheek. Mimic then engaged Death and before he unleashed his powers on her he sensed something on her. This delay allowed her to throw him back to the ground. She went to move on him when Thunderbird, Namor and Polaris went after her. She turned and faced the three mutants and flicked her wrist causing Namor to fly backwards with great force.

"She's mine," Thunderbird said but stopped when a bunch of wing darts hit him in the back and he fell over deathly sick, twitched and then went still.

"I will kill you all," Polaris said as she called on her powers and ripped the wings right out of Pestilence's back.

"You forget, I am death," Death said as she moved her hands and made the green haired mutants head spin one direction while her body went the other.

"We have no choice but to kill her," Gambit said as Rouge flew up behind her and touched her head.

"No, we can still save them," Mimic said hating to agree with Professor X.

"Are you crazy?" Sabretooth snared.

"He's right. They are not in control of their actions," Rouge said as she hit the ground from the feedback of touching Death and tried to recover.

"I don't care," Sabretooth said as he leapt at Death.

"You're going down bub," Wolverine said as she leapt at Sabretooth and engaged in claw tearing battle.

"Finish them my bringer of death," Apocalypse said floating up next to Death.

"I," Death said as suddenly the contact with Rouge seemed to unfuzz her mind.

"Do as our master commands," Mr. Sinister said moving closer to Death and his master.

"I will not kill or be your puppet no longer," Death screamed as her power flared and seemed to change sending a blast that appeared to incinerate Mr. Sinister.

"That's it, I'm out of here," Toad said as the rest of the Brotherhood agreed and took off leaving the remaining three Gen-X members on the ground battered and bruised.

"Too bad," Apocalypse said turning his arm into a cannon and shot Death in the head causing her to crash to the ground below.

"From the grips of Death, a Phoenix will rise," Death body exploded into flame and rose in the air illuminated by a fiery bird.

Whipping out her fiery talon, she grabbed Apocalypse and with all her power ripped and burned him into nothing. Apocalypse rule had been ended. She then turned and faced the others and began to reach for them. She was now out of control. She wanted to stop but yet she wanted to burn everything and make them pay for what had been done to her. She turned to see Sabretooth get away form Wolverine and jump at her. Creed hit the ground, flesh burnt and smoking. She moved to continue when Wolverine was in her arms.

"Jean, please stop," Wolverine pleaded as his flesh was having a hard time healing and keeping up with her melting it away.

"Oh, what am I doing," Jean cried as she finally gained control and went limp in his arms and cried.

As she lowered them to the ground she used her new found powers to give Cyclops, the newly reformed Iceman and Angel their minds back and ridding them of Apocalypse's influence. Everyone took a few minutes to compose themselves before addressing each other.

"Wow, that was something. You were something," Black Axe said watching the battle end.

"I still am," Phoenix said with a sad smile.

"So what happens now?" Black Axe asked.

"The three members of Gen-X refuse to join either group after this and the three of them leave to bury their dead. After the death of their two teammates, Namor quits and returned to Atlantis while Sabretooth, now free of Xavier's influence dashed out of sight. Iceman and Cyclops, still feeling a kinship to Xavier, decided to join his Extreme X-Men. To Scott's surprise and breaking heart, I decide to go with X-Factor and stay close to Wolverine. We had bonded on so many levels during his rescue of me. Lastly, Angel, appalled by what he had done, denounced both teams and wondered off to lick his wounds and be by himself," Phoenix said form within his mind.

"I can see how mutants had fallen but how does this have a great impact on the world?" Black Axe asked.

"Namor's returning to the ocean will lead to the battle of Atlantis while Angel will run into something more supernatural and became the next Outsider. But the last and most significant of this battle is that with the death of Warlock it will send a beacon to his father who will come to Earth for revenge," Phoenix sighed as she used her powers to make Black Axe move on to the next event.

**Next: Issue #35 – The Second Age of Apocalypse – Part Five: But be sure to check out X-Calibur # 31 for Part Four & Outsiders Beginnings: Rise of the Midnight Sons**


	36. The Second Age Of Apocalypse Part Five

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #35 – The Second Age of Apocalypse – Part Five**

_**Earth-295 **_

_**Lehnsherr Manor **_

Creed looked up and saw the white dressed man and his army. There had to be about thirty of them up there and they were coming down fast. Before Creed could react, Queen Lehnsherr shouted orders as her forces took too battle to defend the manor. He saw that she kept her son back against his wishes and the two of them dashed off into the manor. Nothing like the running from the battle but then again she could be heading off to contact her husband, Magneto. Then it had dawned on him, this was a setup. The minute a bunch of them had left, this group strikes. They were here for something and he wished he knew what it was.

"Creed, watch out," Krystalin said as Creed moved in time to avoid a series of arrows.

"Who are these guys?" Chameleon asked.

"I don't know. I don't recognize any of them," Creed said.

"We don't either. My gut tells me that they are not from this world," Exodus said.

"Then we don't hold back," Storm said as she rose into the air causing the sky to go dark as wind, rain and lightening erupted upon the invading force.

"We need to take that woman out," Nocturne said as she focused on a spell.

"I can't believe how much that old woman looks like Ororo," Captain Britain Said as he led his and Amor's forces to stop the evil below.

"He said we have to kill them or all is lost. I do not recognize these people and have no problem getting the job done," Geo-Storm said as he called on his lightening powers and went after the weather witch.

"I'll get inside the place and check it out," Nightcrawler said as he was about to teleport.

"You will not go anywhere you look-a-like imposter," another Nightcrawler who was much darker and more pirate looking said as he appeared in front of him with a sword.

"Kurt, heads up," Nocturne said as both Nightcrawlers looked up as she cast a spell putting a sword in her friend's hand.

"Now we will see who the better swordsman is," Nightcrawler said as he lifted his new swords and lunged at his darker version.

"These two should be easy," Sonique said as she, Jubilee, the Bedlam brothers and Demask surrounded the two women standing side by side.

"I apologize for not remembering your name, but if you have a trick up your sleeve now would be the time," Braid said as looked at the woman next to her.

"Name's Janet Van Dyne but those that fear me call me Devourer," Janet said as she called on her powers for the first time since she had woken in the crystal palace and then joined Amor and X-Calibur on the attack here.

She screamed in pain as her body began to change shape. In a matter of seconds the nice petite woman was now replaced by a large hairy white beast. Demask was about to attack but the creature was fast. Before she could scream, Devourer had ripped apart and killed the Bedlam brothers before landing in front of her and then sinking its teeth into her neck and finishing her off quickly and violently. Sonique saw her teammates go down and unleashed one of her sonic screams. The creature screamed as Braid hit the ground covering her ears. Jubilee called on all her powers and sent off a series of firecrackers that exploded in and around Braid's face causing her to drop to the ground lifeless and faceless. Noticing the screaming had stopped, she turned to smile in victory only to see Sonique clutching her ripped out throat and Devourer standing right over her. She swallowed hard as the white beast's teeth chomped down on her.

"We need to find a way to stop all this needless bloodshed," Chameleon said as she stepped next to Krystalin.

"Then stand down," Captain Britain said as he, Shadowcat and the two new recruits Sunfire and BattleStar stepped up behind them.

"You're messing with the wrong woman," Krystalin said as she called on her powers and turned around to face her attackers and froze.

"Lamar, Mariko?" Krystalin asked in surprise.

"You know these two?" Shadowcat asked.

"Krys, what are you guys doing here?" Sunfire asked.

"Where are Blink and the others?" BattleStar asked.

"They went to stop the Dark Beast. Why are you guys attacking us? These people have established peace here and they are the friends of Creed and Blink," Chameleon said.

"This Amor character showed up at the palace and said we had to come here and destroy there people here," Sunfire began to say and then stopped as they all realized Amor was nowhere to be found.

"I have a feeling we've just been had," Captain Britain said feeling very foolish and angry.

"Then we need to stop this battle fast and find this Amor before anymore blood is spilled," Krys said as they all agreed.

_**Inside the Manor**_

"Hurry, Charles," Rouge said as she ran to the basement with her son in tow.

"Mom, I don't get why you're running. They need us out there," Charles said running after his mom.

"Because the minute your father left they attacked. It has to be the Dark Beast and we have to make sure he doesn't get it," Rouge said as they reached a door with a keypad lock on it.

"Get what, mom?" Charles asked as she caused the door to open.

"Yes, Rouge, what are you and Erik hiding?" Creed asked as he stepped out of the shadows.

"Victor, you followed us?" Rouge jumped.

"I knew you and Erik were hiding something. I want to know what it is and why they're out there attacking us for it," Creed demanded.

"Why the last speck of the M'Kraan Crystal. It seems when this world was saved and restarted that the heroes who returned to Earth had also brought back the last remaining piece of that crystal and I am here to take it," Amor said as he, Creature and Mindset appeared in the corridor behind them.

"I will not let you have it," Rouge said.

"Mindset if you would?" Amor asked with a smile.

Pushing with his powers, Mindset lifted Creed into the air and hurled him down the corridor. He then used his mind powers to try and take over Rouge's mind. Charles screamed and used his magnetism to pin the man against the wall. Do to his age and smaller sampling of his father's powers, he could pin the man but not stop him from using his mental powers on his mom. So in panic, Charles did the one thing his parents told him to never do, he removed his right glove. Using his powers he brought Mindset towards him and then placed his right hand on the man's bare forehead. Power flashed in Charles's eyes as Mindset started to scream and then exploded into a million pieces.

"Charles, no," his mom cried as was now free and could move on her own.

"Sorry, mom I had no choice," Charles said as he stood to face the other two.

"I tire of this," Amor said as he could hear Creed roaring back towards them and called on his powers and sent a wave that carried Rouge, Charles and Creed back down the corridor and out of sight.

Amor walked into the room and saw the Crystal sitting in a sealed jar. Calling on another blast of energy from within, he caused the jar to shatter. Amor smiled as he walked over and picked up the piece of M'Kraan and put it in his pocket. He then turned and came face to face with Creature.

"Something tells me they aren't the bad guys here," Creature said.

"This body is about depleted of power and life energy and I can't waste anymore of its energy. I need it for getting out of here and the ritual," Amor said as he did something human by grabbing the woman and snapping her neck with his own hands.

"No!" Creed shouted as he arrived back in time to see the woman drop to the floor and Amor vanish form sight with the M'Kraan Crystal.

_**Epilogue**_

_**Deep within the Rocky Mountains**_

"Here we are," Gambit said as his hood fell back revealing his skin made of darkness and his glowing dark eyes.

"This is it?" Dark Beast said as he threw his three slaves to the side and looked at a metal door embedded in the side of the rock.

"Yes, when Apocalypse was killed his last remaining true horsemen had escaped with the body and brought it here where a secret safe house of his was hidden beneath the mountains. Before the world blinked back into existence, his body had been placed in here and sealed while the last horseman died," Dagger said and then shut her mouth with a glare from Gambit.

"And only I, one of his true disciples can open this door and release his body," Dark Beast said as he touched the door and it flared with light and then opened revealing a stairway further down.

"That's far enough, McCoy," Blink said as she and a group of heroes appeared out of thin air.

"Keep them busy while I attend to the Master," Dark Beast said as he ran down the stairs.

"Our pleasure," Gambit said as he and his forces lunged at the intruders.

Dark Beast made it down the stairs and found himself in a small cavern. Lying on a stone table hooked up to a strange machine was a withered body of Apocalypse. Dark Beast waked over to it and examined his old master's body when a strange light flared behind him. He turned to see a man in a white outfit with long black hair pulled and tied back into a ponytail. In his left hand he held a crystal while in his other hand he held a glowing orb that seemed to be shooting out beams of white holding a woman with a green shamrock on her costume, a robot, a man in a Greek looking outfit and a girl in a gold outfit.

"Here I thought you were just a figment of my imagination," Dark Beast said of the man who had come to hi in his dreams when he was on the world of the Paranormals.

"McCoy, glad you provided access to the body. Now I need you to get that machine activated while I make the rest of the preparations. Out last element should be here soon," Amor said as he placed the unconscious bodies of Shamrock, Steelwind, Parthenon and Lemuria off to the side.

"I have arrived," a man said as he came out of a portal and into the room.

"Who is that?" McCoy asked looking up.

"That is the thirteenth ripple and the final element needed to create my new permanent body to possess," Amor said with an evil grin.

* * *

_**Outsiders Beginnings**_

**Rise of the Midnight Sons**

_**Earth-Time Quake**_

_**Hawaii**_

"Why bring us here?" Black Axe asked.

"This is a very important battle. Since Johnny Blaze became Scarlet Spider he will never become Ghost Rider or be a part of the Midnight Sons. Because of this Zarathos would gain a different level of power and Dan Ketch would become the first Ghost Rider but not the same. This affected things greatly as there would be no Nine and the Midnight Sons would just be a group Dr. Strange calls together in times of need, like the Secret Defenders was. Just like they will be for the first and last time tonight.

"Unknown to anyone Dracula had been setting roots in Hawaii with the help of a man possessed by the spirit of Zarathos. Until the next full moon he would remain mortal but he had gone on television announcing the take over of the world once the sun sets. Strange then realized that at dusk almost all the population of Hawaii would rise as vampires. Knowing that could not happen he called out a summons to all Midnight Sons and a series of others. Answering his call was Blade, Frank Drake, Ghost Rider, Hannibal King, Modred the Mystic, Moribius, Rintrah, Damian Hellstrom, Werewolf by Night, Victoria Montessi, Jinx, Sam Buchanon, Kyllian, Louise Hastings, Man-Thing, Agatha Harkness, Hellcat and Baron Blood. Also, coincidentally, Angel from the X-Men had just arrived in Hawaii to get his life back together after Apocalypse and would be drawn into the fight.

"Strange and his Midnight Sons swarmed in and attacked well before dawn thinking they would have the upper hand. To their surprise, Zarathos was ready for them. He cast a spell that put Hawaii in immediate shade and blocking the UV rays from the son. As soon as the Midnight Sons touched down, Zarathos and his demon forces and Dracula and his Vampires rose up and attacked. The blood bath was immediate, but mainly the evil forces. The Midnight Sons was working in unison and taking out vampires and demons left and right. While they fought, Dr. Strange stayed hidden working his magic trying to reverse the spell that had them in darkness before the true sun set," Phoenix said as she told the tale.

"I see," Black Axe responded in excitement as they got closer and he saw that the battle had well been underway.

They had made it just in time to see Man-Thing, Hellcat and Louise Hastings get torn apart by vampires and demons. Damian was in rage at the loss of his wife. He had just stolen her from the Avengers and made her his. In a fit of rage, Damian renounces his immortality and put it into his pitchfork and plunges it into killing him instantly in his mortal form. This weakened the demons and soon started to fall on after the other by the Midnight Sons. At this time Blade finally came face to face with Dracula. The battle was fierce as each moved with great speed and precision. Dracula was about to get the upper hand on Blade when Angel sacrificed his life and pounced between them causing Dracula's fangs to sink into Angel instead of Blade. Dracula tore into Angel but was stopped quickly.

Blade took this moment and drove a stake into the side of Dracula and tossed him clear off to the side. Blade then knelt down and assisted Angel by having Angel exchange blood with him to help him heal. It seemed to be working but the Blade would never get to know if he saved Angel in time or not. While distracted in trying to save Angel, Dracula had survived and made it right behind Blade and picked him up.

"Now it ends," Dracula said as in one mighty swoop he severed Blade's head from his body and then tossed the head miles away with his great strength.

"For you it will," Angel said as he rose and suddenly expanded a newly grown set of wings.

It seemed the mix of Dracula's bite, Blades blood and his own mutant gene had a strange reaction. Warren had been transformed into some kind of mutant vampire and his wings had fully grown back. With great speed from his new vampire abilities and his mutant wings he picked up a sword and soared up to Dracula, severed his head and flew straight into the heavens carrying the head. Once he reached the barrier he passed through as just the last of the sun was about to go down. The sun's rays caused Dracula's head to burst into flame and dust but had no effect on Warren. It seemed, like Blade he now had all their strengths but none of their weakness.

He then flew back down and landed next to Blade's body. He picked up the other sword holding both in his hands. "I am now called Blade, the vampire's worst nightmare."

"That is how my old friend became a vampire and one of the Outsiders," Phoenix said in his head.

"What are they going to do now? The sun has gone down. The whole island will now rise," Black Axe chucked.

"Watch," Phoenix said as he followed orders.

"Midnight Sons, it is time we rose and put an end to this. I have mastered a spell and a plan to stop this but I will need you all to pledge yourselves to me," Dr. Strange said.

Without hesitation all of the Midnight Sons pledged their lives and powers to Strange. As Strange, with the help of Agatha Harkness, cast their spell as all of the Midnight Sons rose into the air. As the spell neared completion they could see all the vampires coming out of the woodwork. Needing a final boost of power, Strange completed the spell causing Damian Hellstrom, Modred the Mystic, Ghost Rider and his own brother Baron Blood to scream out as they burst into flame and became added power. A great explosion took places and when the light faded they had won.

Strange, the new Blade, Frank Drake, Hannibal King, Morbius, Rintrah, Werewolf by Night, Victoria, Jinx, Sam, Kyllian and Agatha Harkness stood hovering far above the state of Hawaii. As they looked down they could see that the entire island of Hawaii was surrounded in some kind of mystic barrier. Strange quickly explained that the barrier could never be broken due to the four he had sacrificed. That anything on that island could by no means escape. You could enter Hawaii but you could never get out. Strange took everyone to the coast of California as many screamed at him for killing their friends.

"It was necessary to complete the spell. By their sacrifice, Vampires will never reach the main land and we have a prison to send any other supernatural being we may have no means of disposing of ourselves," Dr. Strange merely said.

"You may think that fine, but we don't role that way. Don't ever call us again. We are done with the Midnight Sons and you," Victoria said as she, Sam and Jinx walked away.

"That there was the final rise and fall of the Midnight Sons. Victoria, Sam and Jinx would eventually settle down in Colorado while the others all went their separate ways. Hawaii would soon become known as Vampire Isle and the President would make it the national prison for criminals. Eventually they would start outlawing the supernatural and send them to Vampire Isle. Eventually Werewolf by Night, Morbius, Hannibal King and Frank Drake would be captured and sent to the Isle. Deeming a new purpose in life, Blade even went there to personally protect any humans sent there and kill all vampires on the Island. He would eventually become the leader of a group called the Nightstalkers.

"As praiseful as everyone was to Dr. Strange and creating this prison, it would eventually help fuel the example for doing the same to mutants," Phoenix said as they soon drifted away from the scene.

"So where are we off to now?" Black Axe asked as they moved very quickly.

"We head to Atlantis," Phoenix said as they moved forward in direction and in time.

**Next: Issue #36 – The Second Age of Apocalypse – Part Seven: But be sure to check out X-Calibur # 32 for Part Six & Outsiders Beginnings: Rise of Atlantis**


	37. The Second Age Of Apocalypse Part Seven

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #36 – The Second Age of Apocalypse – Part Seven**

_**Earth-295 **_

_**The Rocky Mountains**_

"Charles, get behind me," Storm said as she stared at the evil being known as Apocalypse.

Storm couldn't believe her eyes. One minute she was watching over Charles as the battle raged on below and the next, the Rocky Mountains exploded from a huge power blast. As of right now she only saw one surviving person and that was their old foe Apocalypse. Not only did he look more powerful, but he was like twenty feet tall. Storm feared for young Charles, she knew there was no way she could take on such evil by herself but she would die trying, only to protect the boy.

"What are we going to do?" Charles asked.

"You are not going to do anything. You are going to run, head back to the Manor and send a distress call to any that will answer our call," Storm instructed.

"What about you? You can't fight that thing all on your own," Charles proclaimed.

"I must and I will. No go!" Storm commanded as her eyes went white and she rose into the air and headed towards the giant bringer of evil.

"I never thought this possible. When Mountjoy tried to posses me and it backfired causing his mind to die with my body leaving me trapped in his body with not only his powers but my life draining powers I thought I had made it until I discovered my body deteriorating and was now cursed to always body hoping. But now, I Finally I have the body I always dreamed of," Fitzroy said through the body of Apocalypse.

"This is not your body. How dare you think you can take control of Apocalypse," Apocalypse screamed.

"When you requested my help I didn't realize this is what you had in mind, but I guess this is better than being dead or placed in crystal stasis," the one known as the Thirteenth Ripple said from the lips of Apocalypse.

"What is going on with him?" Charles asked as floated by Storm, pushing his powers of magnetism to new levels.

"I thought I told you to run?" Storm glared at the boy.

"Sorry, I don't back down from a challenge," Charles said as Storm tried not to smile. He was his father's son as well as his mother's.

"Looks like Fitzroy's plan didn't go as well as planned," Captain Brittan Said as he flew up to the two, his costume torn all over.

"You survived the blast," Storm said in hopes that it meant maybe others had as well.

"Yes, thanks to my super strength and my suit. Luckily there's enough of my suit left to give me flight," Captain Britain said as he watched the giant monster have a three way battle of the minds.

"What about mom or dad?" Charles asked as he looked down at the blasted wasteland and landed down on the ground at a safe enough distance from the large bringer of evil.

"I don't know. The blast sent me flying away from here. I don't know if there are any more survivors," Captain Britain said, angry with himself for allowing Fitzroy to manipulate him to this point. Deep down he had always known that Mountjoy and Fitzroy were one and the same through their many battles. ****X-Calibur Series****

"I don't know about you guys but I hope Dark Beast wasn't one of them," Blink said as she, Thunderbird, Twilight and Viva walked up to them, a little battle worn but alive.

"What about?" Charles asked with fear.

"Sorry, when the explosion happened I only had time to teleport a few out with me. I wasn't even able to get Cal," Blink said with a tear in her eye.

"Don't worry. Takes more than an explosion to keep me from you," said a man made of shadows.

"That looks like Randy's shadow man," Twilight said as he shadow man approached them.

"It is. As the explosion happened I hit the Pym Particles of strength hoping that and my self healing would help me survive. Then Shadowman leapt out of my chest and then absorbed me protecting me," Mimic said as Shadowman pealed off of him and hovered in front of them, fuzzing out in weakness.

"When Randy died, he must have passed his shadow being to you to host," Viva said as the thought of her lost fiend made her eyes water.

"I greatly appreciate it too. You did good little buddy. Now it's time for you to rest," Mimic said as Shadowman gave a thumbs up and dove into his chest.

Before anyone could say any more, the ground began to shake. The ground exploded a few feet in front of them as Magneto rose into the air surrounded by a magnetic force field. Charles cheered as he not only saw his father but his mother standing right by his side. In the protective shield there were ten others: Century, Pete Wisdom, Geo, Jean, who was half conscious from her display of power, shutting down Gambit and allowing all their forces to come together and break into the room below before the explosion, Dazzler, Creed and Weapon X who both looked near death but their healing factors where doing their job overtime, Illyana, Krystalin and Chameleon. They all began to wonder who else may have survived when the heroes quickly began to gather together again.

Two Nightcrawlers appeared, each with two people. The darker version appeared with Iceman and Cyclops while X-Calibur's elf appeared with Fira and Cerise. A few seconds later Shadowcat acme phasing out of the ground with her daughter Cat and Marvel Girl followed by Doctor Z magically appearing with Arrow, Hawk, Dark Prey, Species and Geo Storm. They were glad to see so many had survived, but Blink sighed a big relief when Nocturne magically appeared with BattleStar, Janet Van Dyne and Sunfire. Nightcrawler and Cerise hugged each other in fear when they couldn't find their son in the mix. Just at that moment, a dark portal of smoke and brimstone exploded open and then closed just as quickly leaving a blue skinned woman with pointed ears, long blond curly hair and a tail along with remaining teammates of all their forces.

"Oh no, it can't be," Cerise said looking at Nightcrawler.

"Yes, the real Nightmagik is back. You really thought I was dead? I was still deep within my brother's mind whispering to him how to use my magic. You really didn't think he learned magic on his own that fast?" The dark elf smiled.

"Then you killed your brother?" Nightcrawler asked growing angry at his evil daughter.

"No, he's still in here, but not too happy," Nightmagik said tapping her head. "With the explosion coming I knew he didn't have what it took so when he fainted I used all my might and took over and used my magic to not only save both of us but every member of the X-Men, the group with the Exiles and your entire X-Calibur Army. You should be grateful, I even saved them," Nightmagik said as they looked over to see the collared Freefall, Supernatural and Wormhole along with Parthenon, Lemuria and a glowing green statue that resembled Shamrock.

"You, thank you, Margali," Nightcrawler said as he realized that his son was still alive in there and that his daughter wasn't all evil, he could still save her.

"Your welcome, _father_. The android called Steelwind I left behind because the ritual had completely destroyed him and I almost left her behind but at the last moment I felt a spark of life from within so I thought what the heck and grabbed her as well," Nightmagik said as Rachel and Kitty knelt beside their teammate who was now a green statue.

"You think we can turn her back?" Shadowcat asked as she wiped a tear.

"When this is all over we can see what we can do," Nocturne said as a loud noise grabbed their attention.

"She's right. We must strike now while our enemy is weak. The moment one mind kills the other two, that mind will come into full power and I fear will be unstoppable," Magneto said.

"Then we all attack will full force and worry later," Captain Britain said as he glanced at Shamrock.

"Don't worry, what ever happened it left me and Lemuria powerless so we will stay here and guard your friend," Parthenon said as he hugged Nitro G tight.

"Then it is settled, and Charles you will stay here as well," Magneto said to his son.

"But," Charles began to protest.

"Nothing, listen to your father. Your job is to protect these three," Rouge said as her son nodded.

"My son will stay here with you as well," Brian said as Geo knew better than to protest.

"Then we attack. All magic users gather your resources and see what you can do about reversing the ritual and ripping that thing apart," Blink said as magic users went to work and the entire force went at the large Apocalypse.

"This isn't fair. A lot of them going into battle are far less powerful than I and will die more easily than I would," Charles pouted.

"Well, we will see about that," Gambit said as a dark portal opened and he along with Dark Beast, Dagger, Amazon, Chamber, Kirika, Beak, Wolfsbane, Psylocke, Black Widow and Dr. Doom.

"What ever," Charles said as he used his powers to rip the armor off of Doom and send it back down like daggers killing Black Widow, Dr. Doom and Chamber. They others manages to dodge clear.

"This will be too easy," Dagger said as she sent light daggers at Charles.

"No," Lemuria screamed.

Geo turned to see Beak and Wolfsbane tearing her apart while Kirika moved towards Parthenon. Calling on all his powers he commanded nature. Wind began to blow as the dirt and gravel blew all around making it hard to see and then large plant roots broke through the ground rising up, grabbing hold of Beak, Wolfsbane and Kirika and binding them tight high up into the air. He was proud of himself until Psylocke came up behind him and was about to plunge a psi-knife into his head. He closed his eyes and then heard a pop. He turned to see Psylocke lying on the ground with the top of her head blown open and Charles standing over her with his right glove off.

"It's why I can never touch another human being. My mom touches someone and absorbs their powers where I touch someone and my powers absorb into them. But, because of my magnetic nature, my mutant gene and theirs act like polar opposites and repel each other with devastating results," Charles said as they both looked down at the dead mutant.

"We can still take them," Gambit said as he looked and saw that Dark Beast, Amazon and Dagger had left him. He even noticed that Kirika had sliced her way free and ran off in the direction he assumed Dark Beast went.

"Give up Remy. Dark Beast and the others knew to cut their losses to live another day. Why don't you do the same? You can do it, fight the darkness. You are Gambit, not the Cloak," Charles said as he stood between the dark mutant and the others.

"I," Gambit seemed to pause and then vanished within his cloak only to reappear above Wolfsbane and Beak, wrap them in his cloak and then release them as he vanished.

"Move," Charles said as he, Geo and Parthenon jumped in time to avoid the kinetically charged Wolfsbane and Beak exploding into a million peaces taking the plant roots with them.

"You think you can challenge us?" The voices came from Apocalypse as he turned to face the army coming at him.

"The bigger they are," Bazooka said as he fired off blasts from his hands.

"Nice trick, now see mine," Apocalypse said as he shifted his hands into giant cannons and fired of two powerful blasts that hit Bazooka, Arrow and Switchback causing them to disintegrate into nothing.

"Let's see how you like the cold," Chill said as he got near the large foot and began to oat it with ice and he attempted to freeze the evil mutant.

Apocalypse shook his foot free and then sent an eye beam down with such heat that it burned and melted Chill into nothing. On that queue, Fira and both Sunfires took formation as they called on the power of the sun and engulfed Apocalypse in an inferno of fire. The large mutant screamed and then with great speed and strength he morphed his arms into large blocks and spun around nailing all three and sending them to the ground with devastating force. Apocalypse stopped spinning and laughed.

"She's dead," Nightcrawler said as he teleported to Fira's side.

"As is Sunfire," the dark Nightcrawler said as he teleported by his teammate's side.

"Mariko is badly injured but she's alive. Must be her vampire abilities that saved her," Blink said as BattleStar rolled his eyes.

"Here, use my powers," Fitzroy said as cables shot out of their fingers hitting Geo Storm, Major Victory, Species and Exodus causing their life energies to drain instantly and leaving them a pile of bones.

"We have to do something. I can't imagine what this thing will be like when in full control and at full power," Captain Britain said as he and Mastodon each grabbed one of the creatures feet and flipped him up in the air and onto it's back.

"Maybe if I get close enough I can touch him and turn him to stone," Mimic said as he began to get close to the large mutant.

"Never," Apocalypse said as his body morphed causing hundreds of spikes to form on his body and then fire outwards.

Mimic shifted to steel form just in time to avoid being killed by the spikes. Unfortunately, Hawk, Feedback, Wildchild and Freefall were unable to move fast enough and were pierced and killed instantly by the flying spikes. As everyone tried to regroup, Apocalypse morphed back and started to get up. Rouge, taking the idea form Mimic knew she had to act. She made it to Apocalypse's head and placed her bare hand upon the giant cheek as her husband screamed at her with all his might. Apocalypse and Rouge both screamed as they exploded with power feedback. Apocalypse indented more into the ground as Rouge went flying only to be caught by her husband.

"Rouge, is she?" Storm asked.

"Dead, but not in vain, look," Magneto said through tears as they all looked at their enemy.

Apocalypse was twitching on the ground. You could almost see him dividing into two bodies, a crystal and an astral form but also fighting to pull back together. Just as Magneto closed his wife's eyes, the magic users said they had a spell ready and they knew they had to act now or never. Magneto stood up and called on all his powers and with the help of Storm, Levity, Indigo and Marvel Girl they pinned the giant mutant to the ground while Mothball pushed with all his might to engulf Apocalypse with his power neutralizing bubbles. With his last amount remaining power, Apocalypse shot out several spears from his chest at the ones holding him down.

Magneto batted them all aside with ease except for two. One took out Mothball while the other headed for Rachel. Shadowcat, Nightcrawler and Captain Britain all screamed as they tried to reach her in time but they were too late, the spear had struck just as Nightcrawler had teleported. Kurt gasped as he saw Rachel was off to the side, unharmed while Pete Wisdom lay beside her with a spear in his side. He had shoved her to safety and took the blow meant for her.

"Oh, Pete," Rachel cried as Kitty stood over them and began to cry too.

"Don't let their sacrifices be in vain, woman," Magneto shouted as Rachel understood and focused all her anger and power into helping hold the evil mutant down.

"Mothball took the hit dead on, but we can still save him. Kitty, phase the spear out while I try to heal him," Viva said as she placed her hands on Pete Wisdoms wound while Kitty phased the spear away.

"It's not enough," Kitty cried.

"Allow me," Mimic said as he knelt down and endured the pain of giving up Cyclops' power and taking on Viva's healing power and touch Pete Wisdom. With both using their healing powers, the wound closed and healed but Pete remained unconscious.

Magnetos voice then boomed as he shouted for the magic users to move next, they could address the fallen later. Nightmagik, Doctor Z and Nocturne hovered over Apocalypse as they used their combined magic to complete the separation of the four that Rouge had started. All three beings screamed as the magic reversed the spell and the M'Kraan Crystal ripped away from them. Apocalypse in a last ditch attempt sent a blast that hit both Doctor Z and Nightmagik with great force. Dark Prey caught Doctor Z while Nightcrawler caught his daughter, both relieved to report that they were badly injured but alive. Apocalypse knew he had only one last chance or he would fail, so he reached for the departing Crystal.

Nocturne took action and called on every magical fiber of her being and cast a spell while diving for the Crystal. She released the spell as she laid her hands upon the Crystal and yanked it free. A large magical explosion went off. When the dust cleared they saw a normal sized Apocalypse, barely moving laying on the ground next to the human form of the Thirteenth Ripple while the astral form of Fitzroy could be seen manifesting. Off to the side was the M'Kraan Crystal lying next to a very bruised, broken and bloody form of Nocturne. Thunderbird ran to his lover's side screaming in rage and fear as he grabbed her and rocked her limp body. Blink and Mimic both cried in fear of their teammate when Apocalypse and Fitzroy began to gain control and look at the Crystal.

Jena immediately took action as she burst into flame and took on the form of a fiery bird. She brushed past Thunderbird and Nocturne as she grabbed the Crystal with one fiery claw, wrapped herself around Apocalypse and swatted the astral form of Fitzroy with the other claw causing him to fly into the woman called Interface. The fiery Jean-bird, holding both Apocalypse and the Crystal turned and faced Blink.

"Jean, I can't," Blink said as Weapon X shouted in protest and began to run at Blink only to be pinned down by Magneto.

"Logan, stop. We all have made sacrifices and this will finally end Apocalypse once and for all," Magneto said as he nodded at Blink.

With a tearful goodbye, Blink, backed with Jean's powers, sent a javelin causing Jean, the Crystal and Apocalypse to vanish from sight and reappear deep in the heart of the sun. She had lost too many friends this day and could no longer hold back the tears as she looked from the sun and then over to were Thunderbird held and rocked the lifeless body of Jennifer Kale.

"It is over," BattleStar said as he and Krystalin bound the now harmless human called the Thirteenth Ripple.

"What about Fitzroy?" Captain Britain asked of his old enemy.

"Jean sent him into me with my permission. I have the power to control people and I am keeping him from leaving my mind or possession me. Jean also, before leaving used her new powers to burn him into my brain. Meaning, if I die while he is still in my mind, he dies too," Interface said as she turned to Mimic and nodded.

"I can't,' Mimic said looking at the woman he had gotten to know from his time at the Clinic for Paranormal Research.

"You must. It's the only way to make sure he dies with me. Any other way might give him a chance to shake my control and escape. Do it, let me be the final sacrifice to save the day and make amends for all the bad I've done," Interface said as Mimic did what he had to do.

Mimic called on his power and turned that hand that had once healed into a hand of death. He placed his hand upon Interface's forehead and instantly turned her to stone killing her and Fitzroy immediately. He then turned and walked away from the stone woman and walked right into Blink's arms were they cried together.

"Thank you for your sacrifice. I will remember it always as Fitzroy will never haunt or harm my family again," Captain Britain said as he touched the stone woman's face.

"Hey guys, we just got the all clear. Time to come home," Power Pack's voice boomed as a Tallus appeared glowing on Blink's arm and a portal started to open in front of them.

* * *

_**Outsiders Beginnings**_

**Rise of Atlantis**

_**Earth-Time Quake**_

"What happened, we just blinked out," Black Axe said as he shook his head.

"It seemed we felt the wave of an alternate version of myself flaring with the Phoenix power," Phoenix said as she tried to gain control. ****Result from feature story****

"That's all fine and dandy but we missed what ever story you were going to show me," Black Ax said as they saw a large city floating in the middle of the ocean with a woman waving to a cheering nation and a man in a green hood stood behind her.

"That there is the new Island Nation of Atlantis and that is their Queen, Namorita," Phoenix said.

"I thought Atlantis was under the water," Black Axe commented.

"It was until Namorita and Doom brought it to the surface. Without the Fantastic Four ever existing there was no force to keep Namor, Doom or Atlantis in check. When Namor left the X-Men and returned to Atlantis, his cousin had made herself Queen and devised a plan with Doom to raise Atlantis and make it an actual continent. Namor refused to allow it and a huge battle engulfed the sunken city.

"The battle not only devastates the city but Namor ends up being killed. With his death, Namorita officially becomes Queen and they launch their plan with Doom causing Atlantis to rise out of the ocean. Fearing their attack, the government sends in the Avengers and their reserves in training. At this time the Avengers consist of Captain America, Scarlet Spider, Mr. Stretch, Black Widow, Vision, Hercules and Black Knight. Because of the nature of the mission, Black Panther refuse to get involved. With them are there reservists, Sersi, Stingray, Rage, Crystal, Justice, Swordsman and Magdalene.

"It is a massive battle that results in not only the death of many Atlantians and humans but Stingray, Swordsman and Magdalene all die as well. In the end, captain America converses with Namorita and sees that they have every right to be a legal nation and that they made the mistake by attacking them. The Avengers pull out while Crystal and Justice quit the team. With Captain America making a public apology and Doom standing up for Namorita, Atlantis is made an official nation.

"What no one knows is that Doom and Namorita had been lovers and devised this plan to join two nations to one day rule the world. Not only had they been secretly married while ruling two separate nations, they had also had a child in hiding. Her name is Nita and would grow up one day to become the Outsider known as Punisher," Phoenix said as she looked up into the heavens.

"What now?" Black Axe asked.

"We must go. Soon, like I mentioned before, the Asgardians will soon take notice of Earth," Phoenix said as they moved on from the Ocean below.

**Next: Issue #37 – A New Beginning – Part One & Outsiders Beginnings: The Gods Cometh - But be sure to check out X-Calibur # 33 for Part Eight of the Conclusion and Aftermath of the Second Age of Apocalypse**


	38. A New Beginning Part One

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #37 – A New Beginning – Part One**

_**The Crystal Palace **_

"So this is the Crystal Palace? Man, this is so cool," Charles Lehnsherr said as he looked around.

"Yes and stay close by. I promised your dad I would look after you and I can and will send you back at any time for any reason," Blink said with a slight smirk.

"Yes, Auntie Clarice," Charles smiled, not even his aunt or the death of his mom would kill his buzz right now.

"Not that I'm complaining, but why did you decide to come back here and not go with your friends?" Skullfire asked as he and Dazzleshot followed the others out of the portal and into the large control room of the Crystal Palace.

"I wasn't really close to any of them, kind of an outsider amongst them. They are all heading to a new home with their rediscovered families. I don't want any of that, I want excitement and adventure and I think I'll get that here," Dazzleshot said as she winked at the man and moved past him.

"I still can't believe she's gone," Chameleon said with a tear as she looked over at Thunderbird who stood like a zombie watching the Palace automatically clean up the battle zone that had occurred here.

"Who's gone?" Sunfire asked as she finally came too and Creed helped her upon her feet.

"Nocturne, she was killed in battle on my home world," Creed said as Sunfire gasped with tears and looked over at Blink who was having trouble holding a smile behind her sad eyes.

"Looks like you got everything under control up here," BattleStar said as he held their prisoner tight. He felt bad about their loss but the sight of Mimic comforting Blink pushed his jealousy and anger over that of sadness.

"Yes, Lamar. The palace has almost got all the damage repaired and all the bodies have been taken care of except that of the Time Hunter. I was just about to send it away," Power Pack said as she glanced at the still and broken metallic blue figure on the floor.

Power Pack was just about to get rid of the Time Hunter's body when it started to jerk and repair itself. BattleStar shouted a warning as all the Exiles turned to see the Time Hunter fully repaired and standing upright. Mimic stepped in front of Blink and hoped that his touch would be enough to take this thing down. Just as the Exiles were ready to attack the Time Hunter looked up and then looked back at its body and then back at everyone that was gathering around and then held out his hands.

"Everyone stop, please. It's me, T.J.," the Time Hunter said with his metallic and echo-like voice.

"You think we're dumb enough to fall for that trick?" Mimic said as he called on his power and raised his hand.

"No, it's true. I can't believe it myself and as much as I don't want it to be true, it is me stuck in this darn body," Time Hunter said as the Exiles barely hesitated.

"How can we be sure?" Krystalin asked as she placed the crystal holder containing the ooze once known as Morph down so she could fight.

"Everyone, wait. I believe her," Thunderbird said as he, now thin with red skin and yellow eyes, walked toward the Time Hunter.

"If it is her, how is it possible when she died back on another world and we left the body there?" Blink asked as she stared at the body claiming to hold her friend.

"I was on the brink of death when Jean Grey touched me with her Phoenix Force. It somehow held on to my soul and latched it onto John here. I saw the whole funeral but could not say or do anything until you all came back here. The Phoenix Force that was left pulled me free and allowed me to possess the only body here, this one," Nocturne, in Time Hunter's body explained.

"T.J., is that really you?" Thunderbird asked as he touched the metallic face.

"Yes, John, but I fear I can no longer marry you," Nocturne said with a voice not her own.

"It doesn't matter. Look at me, I've been changed too but it doesn't change how we feel on the inside," Thunderbird said as he tried to reach out for her metallic hand.

"But you don't understand. I can't leave this body for another unless it dies and we know that this body takes an act of God to kill it on top of having a fresh body nearby to leap to," Nocturne signed as she yanked her hand back.

"Then I guess I'll have you around a long time and not have to worry about anything happening to you," Thunderbird said with a smile.

"Oh, John, I love you so much. I guess if this is going to work I better make some changes," Nocturne said as she stepped back and concentrated.

As she quickly got in touch with her new body and grasped the concept of how it worked she willed it to change. The blue metallic body began to shift and reshape itself. Within seconds the muscular body of the Time Hunter now had a more feminine shape as it molded its shape to take on that of Nocturne, pointed ears and all. All the Exiles stared in awe as the figure's shape in front of them now looked exactly like Nocturne except instead of flesh her body was smooth, shiny, metallic and all one color, blue. Nocturne smiled as she ran her metallic fingers through metallic braid looking hair.

"Quite impressive, but you forget two things," Creed said knowing that the body was that of the Time Hunter made him uneasy.

"What's that?" Nocturne said as her voice shifted, still sounding like a metallic echo but now had a softer more feminine tone to it.

"Your tail and clothes," Creed snickered as Nocturne looked behind her and then down at the front of her.

"Oh, my gosh, I didn't realize," Nocturne said in horror.

"Here, put this one. It is made of the same stuff as my costume," Power Pack said as she threw a costume that Nocturne quickly put on and discovered looked just like her father's costume.

"Well this is as close as I will ever get to a human looking body," Nocturne said as she looked back at Thunderbird.

"Works for me," Thunderbird said as he kissed his true love and trying not to flinch at the hard cold feel of her lips.

"Great to have her back but we need to get this one back in stasis," BattleStar said as he held firmly to the man called the thirteenth ripple.

"Done," Power Pack said as she pressed a few buttons and the man was instantly zapped by a red beam and vanished from their sight as he was encased in crystal and stored away.

"So what do we do now?" Charles asked as many suddenly realized that was the question at hand.

"I think the first thing we do, now that we have the ability, is send anyone home who wants to go home," Mimic said as he glanced at the other people standing in the room.

"Yes, can you do that Alexis?" Blink asked the Crystal Palace wiz.

"I can, as long as the system says it's okay unless I am to ignore any warnings," Power Pack said as she looked to the others.

"No, we don't want to jeopardize anything. Last thing we want to do is cause some crises," Mimic said.

"I would have to agree. First, anyone here want to go back home?" Creed asked looking around the room.

"If it's okay, I think I would like to stick around for awhile," Skullfire said as he smiled at Dazzleshot.

"At first I dreamed of going home, but I have really begun to like it here, plus you all need me to run the operating systems here," Power Pack said with a smile as Blink, Mimic and several others agreed with how much she was needed to help run the Crystal Palace. Plus, she knew she could go home at anytime.

"I want to stay, I'm not ready to go back and deal with things," Krystalin said as she thought about how she had found out who her real father was and the truth of things her mother had hidden from her.

"I know Morph wants nothing more than to stick with us, if we can ever get him to pull himself back together," Nocturne said as she and Thunderbird declared the Palace as their only choice for a home now.

"If I had my other body I may have been able to cast a spell," Nocturne added.

"Don't worry, I'll start working on finding a way," Power Pack said and then turned and looked at BattleStar. "I am able to send you home if you like?"

"When would I arrive back?" BattleStar asked not sure what he wanted to do as he looked over at Mimic hugging Blink. A part of him liked this gig while the other was too painful.

"According to the Palace, the War is over and everyone thinks you M.I.A. or dead. You would arrive during the cleanup and rebuilding and easily claim you were buried in rubble or frozen in ice all this time," Power Pack said while she shrugged with a smile.

"I don't know about him, but I'm staying. I can't return home like this and I'd hate to leave my friends," Sunfire said as she smiled at Nocturne and Blink.

"As much as I would like to stay, it is time I returned to my world," Century said as Power Pack nodded and began to calculate his return home.

"Like Lamar, I too am undecided. When I left my ex-husband was trying to kill me. As much as I would like a chance to repay him for what he's done, it is a bit too emotional for me to go back and I feel like I belong here," Chameleon said as she looked at the group she had gotten to know.

"I personally think that Janet should be sent back," Mimic whispered to Blink and Creed.

"I heard that. Why can't I stay?" Janet asked, growing angry.

"Because, when you get angry and become that white monstrous creature you are an uncontrollable killing machine," Krystalin responded.

"You'll let a blood thirsty vampire stay on the team but not me?" Janet said as her eyes began to glow.

"You know, she could ad an edge to very dangerous missions," Creed added.

"And if she can't be controlled?" Sunfire asked.

"Look who's talking. I think both should be sent back," BattleStar said as Sunfire turned and growled at him.

"If I can't stay then no one can," Janet said as her body suddenly exploded with white fur and the small petite woman was replaced by a large muscular white furred monster-like creature and back handed Century who went flying across the room.

"Looks like I arrived just in time," a voice said as they all paused and looked over to see hanging from the wall was a figure of a man with the red and black face of Carnage on top of a body wearing Daredevil's costume tapping a devise that looked like the Tallus on his arm.

"Death Devil," Creed growled of his former Weapon X team mate.

"Who's that?" Chameleon asked as the face gave her familiar goose bumps.

"That's the Carnage symbiote. It came from a reality where its host was Spider-Man. When Spider-Man died it was later discovered to have survived and found that it no longer needed to merge with a host, it could fully take over a body if it severed the head and then merged with the body. Carnage formed the head while controlling the body and any powers it may have. It now calls itself Death and combines it with the name of the body he controls," Creed said giving a quick bio of the creature.

"Yes and while we all have fun exacting our revenge and killing you all, I can also look for a new body," Death Devil said as he jumped on the console and hit a button that caused a series of crystal chambers to explode somewhere behind them.

"He just released a group of prisoners," Power Pack said as Death Devil and Devourer leapt at the Exiles while Power Pack saw a group of figures moving fast toward them from the dark area of the Crystal Chamber holding area behind them.

* * *

_**Outsiders Beginnings**_

**The Gods Cometh**

_**Earth-Time Quake**_

_**Asgard**_

"I can't believe that there was a whole realm out there that we didn't have access to," Loki said as he walked with his brother Thor.

"Yes, it shall be a grand place to visit if not for father forbidding our trip there," Thor said.

"But father is wrong. We need to go and claim it for Asgard,' Loki said.

"Yes, Thor. I have seen it. If we don't attack and claim it they will soon discover us and attack us," Enchantress said as she moved her fingers softly across Thor's cheek.

"Are we here to witness another battle?" Black Axe asked the woman in his head.

"Yes, a small but significant battle. Loki and Enchantress convince Thor to take an assault team to Earth and demand surrender in name of Odin and Asgard. Thor is convinced this gift will put him in favor of his father over Loki while Loki hopes Thor will fail and fall out of favor," Phoenix said as they saw Thor, Loki, Enchantress, Lady Sif, Balldar, Heamdall and the Warriors Three teleport to Midgard and demand surrender to the Gods.

"If it is small and not worth watching, then why bother?" Black Axe asked as he was starting to grow board with this adventure he was stuck on.

"Watch," Phoenix said as Thor and his warriors had taken over Washington DC and held the President prisoner demanding the surrender of the world.

"We must move quickly and both your teams must work together while I work out a spell to send these pretender gods back to where they came from," Dr. Strange said before the group he had assembled.

Dr. Strange was this world's Sorcerer Supreme and had every intention of retiring and selecting a new pupil when the Asgardians had attacked their nation's capital. He knew it would be too much for him alone to take on so he needed help. He called on the Avengers, the country's government sanctioned Super Hero team and a group of mutants calling themselves X-Factor who were making a mark as heroes in the world. He knew both teams would give the power needed to fend off the gods while he used his magic to best their sorceress and send them back.

Dr. Strange glanced at the Avengers assembled before him. Captain America had taken a leave of absence and in his place was the new leader, Mr. Stretch. Because of the membership limit placed on them from the government, there were only seven members of the Avengers, including Mr. Stretch. The other six were Scarlet Spider, Hercules, who was ready to take on these gods, Black Knight, Sersi, Rage and the android known as Vision. Leaving their little girl back at the mansion, Hank, wearing his Giant-Man costume and his wife Janet wearing her Wasp costume had come as reservists and back up. Dr. Strange then looked at the members of X-Factor which consisted of their leader, Mimic and his team, Dazzler, Sunfire, Nightcrawler, Storm, Havok, Wolverine and Phoenix.

"Wow, you're looking pretty good there," Black Axe said to the woman in his mind.

"Yes, by this time I had changed again. With my time with X-Factor we ended up in a crossover with the other X-Men teams while I was being possessed by the Phoenix Force and all of us got pulled into a war with an alien race called the Shi'ar. In the end we came back to Earth and I was back in control of my body but now with great powers enhanced by a portion of the Phoenix Force left inside of me. During the ordeal I had fallen in love with the one called Wolverine and eventually became his bride," Phoenix said remembering when she had become Mrs. James Howlett and flinched at the memories of joy and sorrow of what was to come.

"Looks like the battle has started," Black Axe said as he saw the two teams engage the Asgardians. He was finding it weird watching a woman down there battling who would some day lose her world and then body to have her mind and essence stuck in his head.

Black Axe watched as Dr. Strange worked his spell as he battled Enchantress while Storm herself took on Thor, lightening on lightening and the Avengers and X-Factor worked together to battle Loki and the rest of the Asgardians. The battle waged on until Dr. Strange found and released a spell that not only caused Enchantress to scream in pain but have her life essence ripped out and sent to Hell, killing her. Before she fell lifeless to the ground, Mr. Stretch reached across the field and placed a devise on her as well as activating another devise in his hand. As Enchantress died, the devise on her exploded and sent a power wave through Mr. Stretch's body and into the devise in his other hand. The devise sent out a pulse wave that caused all the Asgardians to pause and then fall to one knee, except Loki who managed to stay on his feet with a smile.

"What just happened?" Thor asked getting to his feet and moved near his brother Loki.

"I sent a wave that caused them to depower and become essentially mortal," Mr. Stretch said as everyone stared at him.

"There's only one person you could have gotten that kind of devise from," Hank Pym said.

"Then the rumors are true. You've been working with your old friend Reed and spying for Fury," Janet growled in anger.

"He had no choice. You are government sanctioned and not only do you work for the government but that makes you answerable to me," Fury said as he and Reed stepped out of a ship as dozens of S.H.E.I.L.D. craft began to land.

"No wonder Steve quit," Hank said as his wife nodded.

"It can't be true, we can't be powerless," Thor said as he looked at his brother.

"I'm afraid it is," Phoenix said as they all turned to see Wolverine standing over the dead bodies of the Warriors Three with dripping blood from his claws.

"Okay, round them up," Fury began to shout orders as his men began to move toward the remaining powerless Asgardians.

"Not me boys, I'm heading back to Asgard to become ruler," Loki said as with a bout of his powers blew the guards away from him and his brother.

"How?" Thor and Reed said at once.

"Who do you think gave them the idea to build the devise to make you all mortal? Not only did I influence them to build it but I influenced you to bring all of Odin's greatest warriors here to Midgard. While they built a devise to make you all mortal I created one to make me immune to its effects," Loki laughed as he pulled back his cloak revealing a devise on his chest.

"I will kill you, Loki," Thor swore as he waved his hammer.

"That will be enough. You both have done enough here and I will deal with this when we return home," Lord Odin said as he appeared out of nowhere and stared at his two boys.

"You think that I would let them build a devise without building one for you? You just saved me a step in the take over of Asgard," Loki said as he pulled a devise out of his pocket and pointed it at Odin.

"I will not let you do this," Thor said as he moved toward his brother.

"Thor, no," Odin began to say but was too late.

Thor ripped the devise from his brother's chest and crushed it under his boot. He then grabbed the devise in his hand and shoved it down Loki's throat while activating it. The devise going off in his body not only kept the pulse wave contained inside the body but it also rendered Loki mortal. Loki's body convulsed while he instantly began to choke. The choking didn't last long as Thor reached around, grabbed Loki around the neck and snapped it causing him to fall to the ground dead. Thor then looked to his father for approval when all he got was a disappointed look while he fell to the ground by the shear weight of his hammer.

"Father?" Thor asked as he found he could no longer lift the mighty weapon.

"Thor, by this act you have proven you are no longer fit to carry the mighty Mjolnir and I hereby strip you of your title," Odin said as power flashed in his eyes and Thor vanished and was replaced by a thinner man with peasant looking clothes.

"Hold it right there, you think he wasn't the only one to build a backup? Round them all up," Fury said as Reed pulled out a large gun and pointed it at Odin.

"Stop, you have no right to take them prisoner," Mimic said as Hank and Janet voiced their agreement and disapproval of Fury and Reed while glaring at Mr. Stretch.

"She's right. I have struck an agreement with Odin. He will go back to Asgard and with my magic and his power a binding spell will be cast permanently banishing his kind from Earth never allowing them to set foot here again ever if he is allowed to take all his people, dead and alive, back with him to deal with under his laws," Strange said as he nodded at Odin.

"Unacceptable, Reed you got one shot make it count," Fury said as Reed Richards fired the gun causing it to explode as it sent a powerful blast of energy at Odin.

"I will not allow this!" Storm shouted as she summoned her powers knocking Odin out of the way while she took the blast meant for the Lord of Asgard.

"Storm!" Mimic screamed as he flew next to the powerless and quickly blood soaking body of his true love lying on the ground.

"It seems that there is a warrior still fit for the mighty Mjolnir. Allow me to give back to this world the means to help fix and make up for what my sons have done. Dear, please take the hammer," Odin said to the dying woman.

Storm reached out with her hand and suddenly found the hammer in her grasp. Despite being very weak and near death, Storm found she could raise the hammer as if it were light as a feather. The hammer sparked as a large lightening bolt came down from the heavens. Odin's eyes flashed as he placed his hands upon the dying woman at the same moment the lightening struck her and her hammer. Mimic flew back as he turned to see Odin standing next to him with a smile. Mimic couldn't believe it. Storm was no longer on the ground dying; she was standing upright, fully healed holding Mjolnir high above her head and wearing a similar costume of Thor's.

"I don't believe this," Dazzler said to Havok.

"You now have the power as the new Thunder Goddess. Use it to protect and guide this world," Odin said as he nodded to Strange.

"Stop them," Fury shouted but was too late. Strange cast his spell and Odin, Thor and all the other Asgardians, dead and alive vanished from Earth forever.

"Strange, you had no right. I will have you locked up for this," Fury shouted as X-Factor prepared to help defend Dr. Strange.

"Stop, the need to fight is gone. If I promise to join your Avengers, will you agree to forgive and let everyone go?" Storm said with a new sound and power to her voice.

"Storm, you can't do this. You can't leave us, me," Mimic pleaded.

"I have to. I am no longer a mutant but a goddess. I must honor Odin's wish and power and I can do more good as part of the Avengers. As much as I loved you, I must go," Storm said as Mimic began to cry.

"Agreed," Fury said not liking it but knew it was the only way to obtain Storm and her Asgardian powers.

"Storm," Mimic pleaded one last time.

"Storm is dead. I am now, Thora," Thora said as she moved toward Fury and the other Avengers.

"Hank, Janet?" Mr. Stretch asked as he saw the two not coming with the rest of the Avengers.

"We're done, Ben. What you did with Fury and Reed is unforgivable and the last straw," Janet said in anger.

"As of now, we are through with you and the Avengers, forever," Hank said as he and his wife ripped off their face masks and threw them to the ground and walked away.

"Well, that was interesting," Black Axe said as he began to float upwards.

"Yes, not only did this mark the end of Asgard's connection to our Earth forever, but two major events resulted from this battle," Phoenix said.

"What are they?" Black Axe asked.

"One, this will cause Fury and the government to see a stronger need not only to contain mutants, but also the need for all super heroes to be registered and controlled by the government. Second, it created the Outsider named Thora," Phoenix said as they pushed upwards with more speed.

"Where to now?" Black Axe asked as he felt time and space moving before him.

"To a great battle that will rock the stars and create one of the most powerful of the Outsiders," Phoenix said as they moved into space and into the future.

**Next: Issue #37 – A New Beginning – Part Two & Outsiders Beginnings: Galactus**


	39. A New Beginning Part Two

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #38 – A New Beginning – Part Two**

_**The Crystal Palace **_

"Watch out girl," Blurr said as he moved with super speed and grabbed Viva out of the way as Devourer tried to slice her with her claws.

"Why is it so hard to get rid of these guys?" Blink asked in anger as she threw her javelins at Death Devil as he easily leapt out of the way of them.

"Oh, you know you'd miss us," Death Devil said as he licked his lips with his long creepy tongue.

"Who did he release?" Mimic asked as Power Pack ran her fingers along the computer console while he watched the five figures moving towards them from the distance.

"There are five of them and his choices aren't very pleasant. They were being kept in the evil and dangerous section of the crystal chambers. According to the computer it identifies them as Spider-Man from Earth-1525 where the spider bite transformed Peter Parker into a giant tarantula that must feed on humans to survive.

"Then there is the Fearsome Four from Earth-2796 where the cosmic rays not only gave Reed, Ben, Sue and Johnny their powers but fused them together into a single monster. We also have Hulk-X from Earth-920 where the Weapon X program not only gave Logan his Adamantium but fused him with gamma radiation that transformed him into a giant red Hulk with claws.

"The last two are Captain Blood from Earth-40 where Steve Rogers was turned into a vampire and All Father from Earth-2002 where Thor had killed his brother Loki in jealousy and was banished to Earth. In retaliation Thor renamed himself All Father and took over the Earth enslaving and torturing the humans in his father's name. Odin then disowned him, shut him off from Asgard forever, stripping him of his powers and made him mortal. Unfortunately, All Father, before killing Dr. Strange, made him turn his powerless hammer into two wrist bands that mystically gave him control over the weather," Power Pack said as the five figures joined the battle.

"Mary Jane," Spider-Man said in a low slur as his spider legs lifted him up and he shot a stream of webbing out of his mouth.

"Why do I always attract the bad ones?" Chameleon said as she called on her powers and her body shifted and became water allowing the webbing to pass through her.

Chameleon then dove at the large spider creature and called on her powers once more. This time her body shifted and she became sand. She quickly swirled around and all over Spider-Man keeping him completely surrounded and bombarded with sand. As the creature growled, Chameleon reformed becoming human and making the sand vanish. Just as Spider-Man was clearing his eyes, Chameleon called on her power causing four mechanical arms to shot from her back, grab the spider and throw him across the room and into a wall. As Spider-Man hit the wall, Chameleon called on her powers one last time making her mechanical arms vanish as blots of electricity poured from her body shocking the creature into unconsciousness.

"I am in pressed," Krystalin said as she stepped next to Chameleon.

"Thou likes to play with electricity?" All Father asked as he slammed his wrists together making his enchanted wrist bands to hum and glow.

All Father then raised his arms and with a quick motion caused lightening to form from nowhere and strike down upon the two women. Both would have been struck if Blurr had hit them with super speed knocking them out of the way. All Father turned towards the direction his prey had gone when Mimic stepped into his way. Mimic called on his telekinesis while hitting his Pym particle harness to induce himself with super strength. Using his tek he lifted All Father into the air and then combined this power with his strength he landed a punch that sent the All Father flying clear across the room.

"I will enjoy feeding on him," Captain Blood said as he bared his fangs and flew at Mimic.

"Not if I can help it," Sunfire said as she vamped out and flew at the Captain and released her fire powers.

"No!" Captain Blood hissed as he threw up his shield in time to block the deadly fire.

The patriotic vampire braced his shield against the force of the fire and then used his strength to life himself up and over his shield and the fire landing behind Sunfire. Sunfire whipped around to only find herself caught by the vampire by the neck with his strong arm. Sunfire began to struggle and then stopped one her eyes made contact with those of the Captain. After a few seconds of silence Captain Blood spoke, "Kill them," causing Sunfire to show her fangs and fly at her fellow Exiles.

"I told you she was a liability," BattleStar said as he ignited his photon shield to block the blasts of fire.

"You will not kill her," Blink commanded.

"Whatever," BattleStar said as she threw his shield hit Sunfire in the chest causing the shield to vanish and reform on his arm as the vampire Exile crashed into the ground.

"Little help here," Indigo shouted as she, Dynamite, Charles and Supernatural stood before the grotesque form of the Fearsome Four.

"Hard to touch a creature that has its own force field and can whip out many arms that stretch and length and can become rock hard or fiery hot," Dynamite said as he sent a mental blast that exploded against the invisible force field and having no affect on the creature.

"Allow me to help," Twilight said as she stepped in front of them and commanded them to all close their eyes.

Twilight threw off her robe and removed her face mask and wig. The minute she did that a bright powerful light emitted from her exposed skin. She focused and directed her power at the large creature with all her might. At first, nothing seemed to happen and then suddenly the creature began to slow and wobble as she felt herself growing stronger. As the creature fell to the ground, motionless, she couldn't stop. She had never truly known the depths of her power till now and she didn't want it to stop. She was ready to give herself over to the light when a voice snapped her back, "Lenore?" She wasn't sure who it belonged to until she heard her name again and realized it was Viva.

"Sorry, child. Got a little carried away," Twilight said as she quickly put her robe, wig and mask back on causing her light and skin to be concealed.

"Big guy is mine," Mastodon growled as he charged past Dazzleshot and Skullfire who were taking on Captain Blood and ran at the large red creature called Hulk-X.

"You think you can take me, bub?" Hulk-X smirked as he swung a might back hand at the mastodon that sent him flying backwards with great force.

"No way we can take someone that strong," Nocturne said to the shiny blue form of Nocturne as Devourer ran past them and engaged battle with Creed and Century.

"Who says we have to get near him?" Thunderbird said as he called on his powers and slammed his hands together causing his thunderclap to shake the vary ground the Hulk-X was standing on and nearly knocking him over.

Hulk-X got his footing and his great strength was more than enough to keep form being knocked over. He then let out a roar as three Adamantium claws shot out of each hand above the knuckles. With great momentum he ran at the two Exiles and dove at them swinging his claws at them. Nocturne, on instinct, threw herself in front of her man and cringed as the claws came down upon her body. A loud exploding clang rang form all around them as Nocturne and Hulk-X both hit the ground on different sides of Thunderbird. Thunderbird looked to see that Nocturne had two large slice marks on her body and one claw sticking out of her. He then turned to see Hulk-X screaming in anger as one of the claws on his right hand was missing. He then turned and stared right at him.

"I think he's angry now," Thunderbird said as Nocturne got to her feet and pulled out the Adamantium blade allowing her body to reshape and heal itself instantly.

"We'll take that," Death Devil said as he swung past grabbing the blade and landing back on the computer console.

"So you think releasing these guys will keep me from killing you?" Blink said as she appeared next to Power Pack.

"Actually, they were meant as a distraction to allow me to get this and do this," Death Devil said as he held up a Tallus and then hit a button that sent out a beam that caused him, Devourer, Spider-Man, All Father, Hulk-X, Fearsome Four and Captain Blood to vanish from sight.

"Where did they go?" Blink asked as Power Pack ran to the computer console and began typing as fast as she could.

"It seams Death Devil sent him and his buddies to other worlds. His Tallus is masking them so they all could be together or scattered separately thought out the multiverse. We won't know till they start doing enough damage to send up an alert," Power Pack said in panic.

"This can not be good," Creed swore as the cuts and wounds from Devourer were almost healed.

"We have to go after them and bring them down," Sunfire growled as she regained her control since captain Blood was gone.

"I think we need to send certain people home first," BattleStar said as he glared at the vampire.

"Lamar," Blink began to say when Mimic raised his hand to get everyone's attention.

"Actually, Sunfire and BattleStar are right, but it's not the only decision we need to make," Mimic said as he nodded at Power Pack.

"What are you talking about?" Creed asked.

"With Ladonna and the Timebrokers all gone, there is no one to maintain and take control of the Crystal Palace," Power Pack said.

"How is that any of our concern?" Century asked as he really wanted to go home.

"Without anyone to take control and watch over the multiverse, things could not only get out of control but very bad things could happen to all realities. It could lead to the end of all we know," Power Pack said with great worry on her face.

"Looks like we better make some decisions and fast," Mimic said as alarms went off indicating realities that needed help and calls coming in from other time hopping teams that needed someone's help or attention.

"Then let's get to it," Creed said as everyone gathered together to listen to Power Pack and decide the fate of the Crystal Palace and the multiverse.

* * *

_**Outsiders Beginnings**_

**Galactus**

_**Earth-Time Quake**_

_**Outer Space – Near the planet Saturn**_

"Is that Galactus?" Black Axe asked as a fast approaching shape could be seen off in the distance.

"Yes, and he had decided to consume the Earth. Without the Fantastic Force to convince the Silver Surfer to spare their planet, the Silver Surfer has led his master directly here," Phoenix said.

"Obviously he fails since you are still here," Black Axe said in disappointment.

"Yes, but this battle not only brings the death of a few major players but it also creates one of the most powerful Outsiders. It looks like Earth's heroes arriving now," Phoenix said as Black Axe turned to watch the scene below him.

On a floating asteroid a flash of light went off as ten figures appeared. Black Axe could make out Dr. Strange, Mantis, Huntara, Lyja, Vibraxas, Thanos, Black Crow, Diamondback, Agatha Harkness and Sleepwalker who could all breathe thanks to the magic of Dr. Strange. Phoenix informed him that they were called Dr. Strange's Secret Defenders. Not long after two more groups of heroes arrived. First was the Inhumans known as Black Bolt, Medusa, Karnak, Lockjaw, Triton, Gorgon and Devlor fallowed by Adam Warlock and his Guardians of the Galaxy, Moondragon, Pip the troll, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Max, Firelord, Super Skrull and Jack of Hearts. Black Axe was impressed by the large group assembled but waited to see how they all would fair as Silver Surfer arrived before them with his master, Galactus and the former Heralds known as Tyrant, Morg, Nova and Terrax.

Firelord, Super Skrull and Jack of Hearts immediately flew at the Heralds and unleashed their mighty powers as the others attacked Galactus. The battle was fierce and the first casualties were Jack of Hearts by the hands of Tyrant and Thanos, Mantis and Huntara by the pure power of Galactus. Black Axe began to wonder how in the world the heroes of Earth would win when they began dropping like flies. Galactus, with another wave of power killed and consumed the bodies of Karnak, Triton and Devlor and only managed to seriously injure Medusa and Gorgon when Black Bolt unleashed his powers and sent a powerful blast that stunned and caused the mighty world devourer to pause. Dr. Strange and Adam Warlock looked worse for wear and decided they had to act or all would be lost.

Using their magical and cosmic might Adam and Dr. Strange took the gems from Adam's fellow comrades and combined them with a great spell and prepared to fire a spell and blast to end Galactus once and for all. Galactus quickly fired a beam from his eyes just as the Silver Surfer raced to his master's defense. Silver Surfer arrived between his master and the two trying to attack him and unleashed his powers. Unexpectedly, as all power sources went off it caused a massive explosion of power and light. All those battling in space stopped and watched as they could feel and almost hear the explosive force and display of power before them. When the light faded all that was left was a very gravelly injured Galactus and Silver Surfer, Adam Warlock and Dr. Strange were nothing more than a massive floating pile of ashes. Gamora cried out at the loss of the one she loved as everyone swore that their sacrifice had been in vain.

"I need energy," Galactus tried to speak as a beam of energy came out of his eyes and hit Moondragon, Pip, Drax, Gamora and Max causing them to disintegrate and be consumed by Galactus himself.

"Master, are you okay?" Nova asked floating up to him.

"I need to feed and regain my strength," Galactus said as part of him had healed from his feeding.

"There's now way we can win," Lyja said as she was growing tired and saw the Heralds form next to their master.

"Your feeding ends here," a voice boomed out of nowhere as a figure exploded upwards form an asteroid.

They all turned to see a man wearing an all black costume with silver boots, gloves and face mask flew up before Galactus and his Heralds. Flapping in the vacuum of space was a red cloak fastened around his neck with a red skull. A powerful energy danced around the man's hands. The Heralds flew at him but were met with a powerful blast that came form the man's hands that seemed to rip the cosmic power right from the Heralds bodies leaving them normal. Without the powers of Galactus, all four Heralds each grabbed their throats and instantly died in the vacuum of space. The new comer flew right at Galactus's head and released a power bout of energy as he and his powers collided with Galactus's head. When the smoke cleared, the new comer was standing atop the floating, headless body of Galactus.

"He killed Galactus," Medusa whispered in awe.

"Who are you?" Agatha Harkness asked feeling a source of magic and more coming from the man.

"I am the Silver Stranger and no longer will Earth fear that of monsters like this," Silver Stranger said as he wrapped an energy force around Galactus and his Heralds and sent their bodies deep into the sun.

With that, Black Bolt had Lockjaw take his remaining Inhumans home while the Silver Stranger used his mighty power to take hold of and take the remaining heroes home.

"I am confused, if you have someone like that, how can anything else bad ever happen on Earth?" Black Axe asked.

"For the next few years he helped fight crime, but because of people's fear of his display of power and his own mental anguish of not knowing who he is or where he came form he eventually went into seclusion and no one heard from his again until the final battle of Earth that lead to the Outsiders and the end of my world," Phoenix said.

"Its clear that he is the combined result of Silver Surfer, Adam Warlock and Dr. Strange fusing together," Black Axe said as the stared moving back to Earth.

"And that kind of power fused into one person could be a lot for anyone to handle," Phoenix said more to herself.

"So what are we seeing now?" Black Axe asked.

"We are heading a few years into the future to witness an event that will set the final stages in motion that will lead to the end of my world," Phoenix said with a shiver in Black Axe's mind.

**Next: Issue #39 – A New Beginning – Part Three & Outsiders Beginnings: Phalanx War**


	40. A New Beginning Part Three

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #39 – A New Beginning – Part Three**

_**The Crystal Palace **_

"The last of them have been sent home," Power Pack said as she came into the meeting room and joined the remaining reality displaced people.

Mimic nodded as he squeezed Blink's hand from under the table. Before they made any decisions, their first priority was to send anyone back home that wanted to go. Power Pack made it clear to everyone that if they choose not to go at this time that they could go at any time if possible, but if they chose to leave now, they would more than likely never be able to come back to the Palace and any knowledge and connections to the Palace would be erased. Mimic, Blink and Creed had also met in private to evaluate everyone and see if anyone needed to go back whether they wanted to or not. They wanted any staying behind to be trustworthy and people they could count on and be an asset, not a liability. Once this was all done, Power Pack started sending people back home.

The first were the Displaced Paranormals. Holly who called herself Supernatural and Stephanie who went by Viva had declared their wishes to go home without hesitation. Holly had her friends to get back to and Stephanie had children that she missed dearly. Blurr had family as well and had been sent home as he wished. The remaining four had asked to remain at the Palace and to become members of the Exiles. Blink, Creed and Mimic did a quick assessment and decided that they all couldn't stay. It's not that they couldn't use all the help that they could get but they had to do what was best for the group and this time they could choose who stayed or who had to go, and that is just what they did.

David Landers, codenamed Mastodon had wanted to stay because of his transformation from the White Event and then his further transformation by Dark Beast made him into a beast-like creature. There was no way he could go back to his old life and they one place he could go was the Clinic and he didn't want to go back there. They knew his super strength would make a great asset in battle and had allowed him to stay. They had also decided to let Lenore Fenzl, the almost seventy year old woman named Twilight to stay as well. Her old age was a concern, but her very unique and valuable ability not only gave them a huge weapon, but it also gave Lenore the body and energy of a twenty year old. She was glad to be allowed to stay because her life back home was over and this gave her a new chance to live again.

Michael Crawley, the Paranormal known as Dynamite had begged to stay but they had to send him home. Not only was he young but he was inexperienced with his powers. At this point they didn't have time to babysit or to train individuals on how to use their powers. To find ways to improve or better use your gifts was one thing but to have to teach someone how to use their gifts and be able to use them in the heat of battle was another thing. Despite his please Power Pack had sent him home. The last Paranormal was Dionne McQuaid or Indigo. She was powerful and in control of her gifts but she was a loose cannon and had a very bad temper. So to compromise, Mimic endured the pain of releasing his telekinesis as he absorbed her indigo power before having Power Pack send her off to her surprise.

Everyone else had decided to stay except for Century. He was ready to head back to Earth 116X. With a quick good-bye, Power Pack granted his wish and Century was sent back home. There were two other members that the main three had taken into great consideration. The first was Mimic and Blink's old friend Sunfire. Now that she had been turned into a vampire, minus her immunity to fire and the sun thanks to her mutant gifts, there were concerns from a few teammates, especially BattleStar, on their safety from a bloodsucker. In the end, Blink had sworn by her friendship with Sunfire and would easily be backed by Nocturne. Mimic knew the three had become a very close trio and nothing but death would severe their bonds. Since they agreed with her staying they had to take the other member's stay more seriously.

Creed couldn't believe that BattleStar was even being questioned on his rights to stay but he had to hear Mimic and Blink out. Blink had gotten very close with Lamar ever since she joined the Exiles and they survived the Time Quake world. She had almost fallen in love with the man until she and Calvin had reunited and rekindled their love for each other. She knew they could remain friends and she would do anything for him but his thirst to get rid of or even kill her good friend Sunfire weighed heavy on her heart. She didn't want to send him away but she couldn't risk her friend's life either. So she put whether he should go. Mimic agreed with her right away but Creed knew that the only reason he sided with Blink was because BattleStar was obsessed with winning Blink's heart and Mimic wanted the competition gone. With Mimic voting to leave and Blink undecided it left Creed to make the final decision. Creed thought about it and then made his decision and the others agreed to it, even if they weren't one hundred percent behind it.

"Glad that is done, now we can get to business," Creed said as he looked around then room.

Power Pack sat down at the table next to Charles Lehnsherr who was seated by his aunt Blink and Mimic who was seated next to Creed. On the other side of Creed was BattleStar, followed by Dazzleshot, Skullfire, Twilight, Mastodon, Chameleon, Sunfire, Thunderbird, Nocturne and Krystalin finally ending on the other side of Power Pack. Now sitting in front of Krystalin upon the table was the canister holding the glob once known as Morph. With everyone accounted for Blink called the meeting to order. They had some major things to cover and it would spell a whole new beginning for all of them and the Crystal Palace.

"I want to thank each and every one of you for committing to this. I know all of us have other lives and worlds we were pulled from, but for each of our own reasons we have decided to stay here and help maintain the Crystal Palace and the order of the multiverses. As we know, what we do is dangerous and there are no guarantees or rewards but together we can do it," Blink said and then nodded to Alexis Power.

"Man I hate speaking in front of groups," Power Pack whispered as she blushed. "It seems I have mastered and almost bonded with the Crystal Palace. I will continue to remain here and run things while the rest of you go out on missions and such. Since Mary Jane is very computer smart, she will be staying at the Palace and learning to run the system so there will be a back up to me," Power Pack said.

"And from the looks of all the teams and things going on she's going to need the help. We will also keep Morph with us and do everything we can to find a way to revert him back to normal," Chameleon added as Krystalin slid the canister of Morph over to her.

"I just wish we could help him," Krystalin sighed.

"We all do. I wish I would have had the chance while I had my magical body," Nocturne added.

"While Power Pack will be monitoring and regulating the different teams out there we have decided to setup three main teams. The Exiles will still be the main force that goes form reality to reality to right the wrongs," Mimic said.

"We will also be reforming Weapon-X but calling X-Tremes. Like my previous team, this group will be the covert or the extreme team that goes in and does the really nasty or vicious missions. The jobs most _heroes_ would not do or the lines one would not normally cross," Creed added.

"Finally, we will setup a team called the Reality Security Enforcers or the R.S.E. They will be in charge of policing and protecting realities of escapees, foreign criminals or crossing over threats. Their first mission will be to immediately hunt down Death Devil and his Death Squad," Blink finished.

"How will the teams be setup?" Charles asked with excitement.

"We will be using the standard Palace Protocol of six reality hopers. It will make it easier to manage each team and be regulated and protected for entering different realities and worlds," Power Pack said.

"Each team will have a leader who will wear a Tallus. Every member on the team will obey and follow their leaders and the mission's orders. Even though we are running things here now, we still have to follow the Universal Rules as before. At any time, Alexis and Mary Jane, if deemed safe or necessary, can transport you back here," Mimic said.

"And since the Palace program runs the Protocol of Six, if we pull one of you or one of you die in the middle of a mission, a replacement will be found and sent. I am still learning so I don't know how much say or influence I will have on this," Power Pack informed them all wanting to keep things running as close to how things had been running as she could.

"So before we start placing you on one of these three teams, is there anyone here who has changed their minds and wants to bail?" Mimic asked.

"Good, we can get started," Blink said when no one chimed up.

"I will be leading the X-Tremes. I have done these missions before and I think I can best handle the team that has to cross lines but maybe keep it from turning evil or on each other," Creed said as he wasn't sure if he was ready to go back to these extreme tactics.

"So I guess each of you will be leading the other two teams?" BattleStar asked wondering if this was the opportunity to split the two up and he can be with Blink.

"Yes, I will be in charge of the R.S.E. while Blink will continue to lead the Exiles," Mimic said hating the thought of being separated from the woman he loved but they knew they had to each establish the three core teams before releasing leadership to another and being on the same team later.

"With the help of Alexis and the Palace systems we have decided where each of you will best be placed," Blink said as some didn't like the idea of not choosing their teams.

"Nocturne, you will be with me since we'll need your new body for these criminals we are rounding up," Mimic said as he felt bad since he and Blink weren't the only two couples splitting up.

They quickly informed each person where they would be going. Thunderbird, reluctantly, would be joining Blink as well as very smiley BattleStar. Mimic didn't like it but Blink and Creed said that the Exiles was the best placement for him. Mimic had made a deal with Thunderbird to look after his fiancé if he kept BattleStar off of Clarice. Charles, so Blink could train and keep an eye on him also joined the Exiles even though Mimic really could use his power on his team. Charles was excited and had even decided he wanted to be called Polaris. Blink's team was filling up but they had a few more to place yet.

Based on their personalities it was easily decided to put Skullfire and Dazzleshot with Creed and let him deal with them. They had also decided to put Mastodon on Creed's team as well along with Sunfire. This left Twilight and Krystalin on Mimic's team. Twilight had a great power and Krystalin would get the chance to get her edge back without crossing too far a line. This left two spots open on both the Exiles and the R.S.E. teams and one opening on the X-Tremes. All of them wondered who would end up filling those vacant spots.

"As for the remaining empty spots on each team, well I guess you'll meet them when you teleport into your first missions," Power Pack said with a smile.

"Death Devil's Death Squad just registered. Got to go now," Chameleon said as she synched up Mimic's Tallus and hit a button that caused Mimic, Nocturne, Twilight and Krystalin to vanish instantly.

"I didn't even get to say good-bye," Thunderbird said with sadness in his voice.

"That's okay. It seems we didn't form both your teams a moment too soon. Time to go," Power Pack said with excitement as she pressed a few buttons sending that last two teams out of the Crystal Palace and onto the reality that needed them.

"Are we really ready for all this?" Chameleon asked feeling a bit overwhelmed with the monitors suddenly coming to life.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Most of these you can ignore. The Palace prioritizes everything and alerts us or demands our response if a situation is critical or we are needed to intervene. It is actually quite fun and exhilarating once you get into the groove of it. I even suspect after a bit we'll even be board or have down time," Power Pack said as she sat down and began to teach Mary Jane the ropes.

"Palace says the new recruits have been briefed and upon our approval will place them with the teams," Chameleon said.

"Oh, that one will truly be interesting, but Creed an handle an old friend," Power Pack said with a grin as she hit a button and sending five recruits into the beginning of a whole different life.

_**

* * *

**_

Outsiders Beginnings

**Phalanx War**

_**Earth-Time Quake**_

_**Maine**_

"Oh, dear, looks like we've arrived later than I had wanted to," Phoenix said from within Black Axe's mind.

"What is going on?" Black Axe asked as he looked at the scene below.

Fire and destruction scattered the entire area for as far as he could see. Large robot looking creatures were absorbing everything they touched. Phoenix had filled him in that these things were called the Phalanx. Since there was no Doug Ramsey to meet Warlock and become his friend, Warlock arrived on Earth and made his way to Main. There he ran into some thugs that killed him out of fear. At the notice of his son's death, Magnus ruler of the Phalanx sent a full our army to destroy the earth. They crash landed in Main and were immediately engaged by a young mutant team called the X-Terminators who had been on vacation.

This team, one time known as Gen-X was now a more mature team lead by Psyche. On this team were Meltdown, Cannonball, Bedlam, Maggott, Mondo, M, Synch, Spike and Shatterstar. The team was cocky until the aliens started absorbing and assimilating everything organic they touched. During the first wave of fighting, Meltdown, Bedlam, Mondo and M were absorbed and killed instantly. In great panic, Psyche sent out a distress call that was picked up by both Professor X and Phoenix. As two teams of mutants came to their call, the Phalanx expanded and by the time they arrived the entire city was assimilated and taken over by the Phalanx.

Professor X arrived with his large team of X-Treme X-men consisting of Gambit, Longshot, Caliban, Rouge, Cyclops, Iceman, Bishop, Thunderbird, Exodus, Marrow, Penance and Random. Coming from the other side was Mimic and X-Factor. His team now consisted of Dazzler, Sunfire, Nightcrawler, Havok, Wolverine and Phoenix who had just gotten engaged to be married, Strong Guy and Madrox. A third team that had been in close vicinity had also arrived to lend a hand. A small team from England called Excalibur. This team was lead by Captain Britain and consisted of three other members known as Cerise, Kylun and Meggan. All three team immediately engaged the Phalanx and tried to help what survivors they could.

Exactly ten minutes after the Phalanx had waged war, the entire state of Main was almost completely simulated. New and media were everywhere and had broadcasted the mutants battling the mutant robots all over the world. It was instantly blamed on the mutants and almost every American citizen was scared and believed that this was all happening because of the mutant menace. Every one all over the world watched as mutants from all teams were assimilated and killed left and right. The first to fall was Cyclops and then was quickly followed by Exodus, Random, Nightcrawler, Cerise and Kylun. There looked to be no way of stopping this alien menace.

Upon the failure of the National Guard and armed forces, the President of the United States called on and sent in every member, trainee and reservist of the Super Hero group known as the Avengers. The mutants looked in awe as the large force consisting of Iron-Man, Wasp, Yellowjacket, Mr. Stretch, Scarlet Spider, Captain America, Hawkeye, Vision, Thora, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Hercules, Black Panther, Black Knight, Black Widow, Wonder Man, War Bird, Falcon, Tigra, She-Hulk, Photon, Starfox, War Machine, Crystal, USAgent, Firebird, Torch, Serisi, Rage, Living Lightening, Machine Man, Justice, Triathalon and Silverclaw. American cheered as their attack took the Phalanx by surprise and they had managed to isolate their attack to Main alone. They thought they had won the day when almost the Phalanx as a whole reformed and merged into one large creature and attacked. The battle waged as many were injured and beaten back. Torch, Firebird and Machine Man were assimilated into the Phalanx with barely a graze from the giant alien robot.

"There's no way we can stop this creature. Only one that can get close enough is Wolverine and even he can't remain too close without his healing factor giving out and he is assimilated," Mimic said as Phoenix looked over in concern.

"We have to do something. If we don't stop it then they will look at nuking the state of Main," Captain America said with sadness in his voice.

"We have a plan. I have a special gadget I've designed in my armor. With the help of Janet and Hank and their particle powers I think I can put an end to the Phalanx," Iron-Man said.

"We will help guide your way to the center," Rouge said as she, Phoenix and a hand full of mutants and Avengers help pave the way for Iron-Man, Wasp and Yelllowjacket to the center of the Phalanx.

They had made it to the center and just as they were about to activate the devise, sections of the giant Phalanx surprised them and killed Wasp instantly. Yellowjacket tried to recover but was soon taken over himself leaving Iron-Man with a devise and no Pym Particles to harness and control the explosion it would detonate. The large group of Heroes was now being surrounded and it wouldn't be long before their chance would be gone and they would all soon be dead. Iron-Man detonated the devise and figured all was lost anyways and might as well take some of them with them.

"What is he doing?" Captain America asked as he saw the devise getting ready to go off.

"He'll kill us all. We have to be able to contain and focus its power into the Phalanx for it to work," Mr. Stretch said as he began to reach for it.

"No, I have a plan," Phoenix said as and Rouge went to work.

Rouge grabbed the devise and held it in one hand while she took Phoenix's hand with her now other bare hand. The three became one as the Phoenix Force and the power of the devise focused all of its power. Then at the last second, Rouge plunged her hand with the devise into the body of the large Phalanx. Rouge could feel the Phalanx trying to absorb her as the devise exploded and with the help of Phoenix and her power they sent it deep inside the Phalanx. The world shook as the explosion went off in and through every inch of the Phalanx. Then, in a huge fiery wave, every single Phalanx and thing touched by the Phalanx was instantly incinerated into dust. When the smoke cleared, the Phalanx were all killed and they had one. Standing in the center of the charred circle was a wounded Jean Grey, a ripped apart armored Toney Stark and a strange deformed looking Rouge.

"Rouge, are you okay?" Wolverine asked as he was suddenly there and lifting a weak Jean into his arms.

"Logan, something's wrong with me. Somehow the explosion and the Phoenix force altered my powers and merged it with the techno organic virus of the Phalanx," Rouge cried as her body was all out of shape and her skin was now black, yellow and robot looking.

"It true, she seems to have permanently absorbed the abilities of the Phalanx, but she can contain and control it," Professor X said as all the mutants and Avengers began to pick up the pieces, wounded and gather closer.

"Help me," Tony whispered as he tried to raise a bloody and half removed arm.

Photon landed near him and tried to help him when Rouge lost her balance and fell on top of Iron-Man. Trying to catch herself, one of her hands touched Tony as her other grabbed onto Photon. Every mutant, Avenger and American watching the live feed from the news cameras watched a horrifying sight. The minute Rouge touched the two Avengers, she started to absorb not only their powers but their entire bodies into herself. Their screams only lasted a few seconds as both Photon and Iron-Man were nowhere to be seen and Rouge now stood there, glowing white like Photon and had traces of red and yellow in her robot like skin. It was clear that Rouge, a mutant and Phalanx hybrid had just murdered two Avengers on live television.

"Kill the mutants, kill them," bystanders shouted as Wolverine and his fellow mutants saw even the Avengers look at them with tears and hate at what had just happened.

"We must go," Jean said as she got to her feet and in one push of power, engulfed all the mutants into a large fiery bird and took them all away instantly.

"Now that was something. You were something," Black Axe said as he watched the remaining Avengers and armed forces start cleaning up what was left of Main.

"Yes and even though it was mutants that saved the world, we will all get blamed for it all," Phoenix said.

"So what happened with Rouge?" Black Axe asked.

"It seemed that my powers and the exposure to the Phalanx had changed her powers. When she touched a being she not only absorbed their powers permanently, but she absorbed their whole body as well killing them instantly. I would take her under my wing and train her fully on how to use and control it. She used Iron-Man's armor and made her self look like a female version of him while Photon gave her an everlasting power source. To the world, Rouge was dead and a mysterious new hero, the Outsider known as Iron-Girl would emerge," Phoenix said as Black Axe suddenly felt that helping Rouge would cost Jean dearly.

"So what happens now?" Black Axe asked.

"Knowing what was to come, Iron-Girl and a few others would help me form X-Force. Are mission was to protect mutants, go into hiding and prepare for the attack on mutant kind by the humans. Professor X and many others refused to follow us and went on with their regular lives and teams believe me to be wrong and paranoid," Phoenix said.

"And were you?" Black Axe asked.

"No. In one year, Senator Kelly would push the movement to register, capture and put an end to all mutants. With all the support the president would not sanction it so Kelly took things into his own hands and would enlist help with initiating the Sentinel Program," Phoenix said.

"And does he succeed?" Black Axe asked.

"Your about to see," Phoenix said as she used her power to take them both into the future.

**Next: Issue #40 – A New Beginning – Part Four & Outsiders Beginnings: Operation: Zero Tolerance**


	41. A New Beginning Part Four

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #40 – A New Beginning – Part Four**

_**The Exiles**_

Blink felt the familiar wave of nausea that was linked to the teleporting between realities. When things finally went from white to full color and vision she looked around. It was clear right away that they were on an Earth where volcanoes had erupted and changed the geography. They were standing on a large rock that was surrounded on all sides by flowing lava and it was very hot. Blink wiped a brow full of sweat as she saw Thunderbird, BattleStar and Polaris do the same. They then realized that on the rock they had been joined by two others. Blink knew immediately that they were the new recruits for their team. She looked at her Tallus for information on who they were and then they made their quick introductions.

The first made her nervous but according to the Tallus she was the greatest hero on Earth-872. Her name was Tribunal and wore an all yellow costume with a purple veil that covered her head and face. That didn't bother Blink, it was what was under the veil that did. According to the Tallus, Tribunal was a member of the Brood. On her Earth, the Brood had come and taken over the whole planet. Problem was that when they had done that, the Living Tribunal had intervened and to restore balance had taken away their ability to implant eggs into hosts and take over the bodies. The cosmic being had also made them into human hybrids making them also take over the feelings and emotions of humans. Soon you had a world like Earth-116X but the population wasn't Earthlings but Brood-Human hybrids. Tribunal had been a Brood who had taken over the body of Betsy Braddock as well as her mental powers. Appointed by the Living Tribunal, she took a similar codename and became the world's leader, protector and judger of evil until a group of evil Brood setup the plan to capture and kill her. Too bad she was pulled for the Exiles right before the killing blow was landed.

"Don't worry. You have nothing to fear from me. I have looked into your minds and have judged you all as Heroes," Tribunal said.

"And if we'd been judged otherwise?" BattleStar said with a chuckle.

"Then the veil would have come off and I would have reset the balance by killing you," Tribunal's voice had come from underneath the veil.

Blink looked at the last recruit. This woman was from Earth-5 which was an Earth that didn't have any drastic differences from other Earths. This woman was named Mary Walker and was a very successful psychologist but with very ugly looks that made her friendless and undesirable to men. Then one day she began developing mental problems her self. She lost control of what life she had and ended up losing everything. On her way to a mental hospital a super hero battle broke out she had been crushed by a flaming car. Just when she thought herself dead, a being by the name of the Beyonder, in an act of kindness, brought her back to life and triggered something in her brain that not only fixed her mental disability but had unlocked her hidden mutant potential. Instead of having multiple personalities she now had multiple abilities that would show up or switch depending on her mood or situation. Since she had been reborn, literally from the ashes and was now beautiful, she nicked named herself the Phoenix and donned a red leather costume that matched her long flowing red curly hair with yellow knee high boots, yellow elbow length gloves with a leather chain belt around her waist. With this new life she became a protector of the Earth, especially the men.

"I think I'm going to like this gig," Mary said with a smile as Blink noticed all three men, especially Charles, were drooling over this red headed vixen.

"Wow, she is beautiful," Charles said as BattleStar winked at him in agreement.

"Yes, she does have a certain aura about her," Thunderbird added.

"Okay, enough dawdling. According to the Tallus we have to free a child from the Lava Men before we are sent on our next mission," Blink said as she teleported themselves off the rock and into the heart of a nearby volcano.

_**Another Earth – The R.S.E.**_

Mimic looked around as soon as they arrived on their new Earth. The Tallus had nothing of significant importance for them to be aware of. The mission was to track down and bring in the Death Squad. While he waited for the Tallus to complete its scan and report on the location of Death Devil and his crew he checked out his two new recruits. He signed a heavy sigh and wondered if Blink had done this as a test. How had he managed to get put in charge of a team full of women? He had no doubt he would remain faithful to Clarice, for he loved her more than anything and he knew no woman would tare that asunder. He had that, and of course Nocturne who would report everything. Mimic chuckled a little as the two new members of the R.S.E. made their introductions.

The first was a woman in her twenties. She was well defined and muscular. She wore an all black outfit with red gloves, boots and two chains that went across her chest making an "X". In the center of her belt was an emblem reading "X.S.E.". She had long flowing green hair that appeared to be made of some kind of ionic energy that almost made it look like her head was on fire. Her eyes glowed with the same green energy. Her name was Dane Summers and she was the daughter of Havok and Polaris. It appeared that her parents mutant genes had countered acted with each other causing Dane to be born with a type of green ionic energy in her body and blood. She eventually grew up and joined Xavier's Security Enforcers as the Mutant of Vengeance known as Blaze in honor of a man who had saved her life when she was young life when a group of Sentinels had slaughtered several mutants, including her father and mother.

It wasn't much after that event that on Earth-5000, Charles Xavier used his powers to take over and become President of the United States. Here he forced cohabitation between humans and mutants. Blaze was a member of his security enforces that went out and policed those mutants, powered beings or human organizations, good or evil that refused to follow his order of peace and cohabitation. After what had been done to her parents, Dane loved having the ability to take her anger out on those that didn't fallow the law. She loved to give vengeance to those who harm the innocent and provide justice. Just looking at her you knew she didn't need to be born with ionic energy to be a power house and force to be reckon with. Mimic nodded and then looked at their final recruit.

Thankfully he was a guy so it made things a tad bit easier. He wore an all green costume that covered his whole body, even his head only allowing his brown hair and his nose and mouth to be exposed. He appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties. He was the son of Bruce Banner and Clea of Earth-780. On his Earth, Dr. Strange had died and Clea had taken his place as the Sorceress Supreme. Not only did she take her former lover's place but had reformed the Defenders. Bruce Banner had joined her team and not only did they end up falling in love but they got married and had a child. Bret Banner grew up to become the vigilante known as Solo, newly appointed agent of SHIELD. Bret had inherited his intelligence from his father and his magical abilities from his mother.

He wasn't very good or comfortable with the whole wizard thing so he had invented weapons that he could channel his magic into and have better results. He could still perform great feats of magic but it took lots of concentration and sometimes the results weren't what he wanted or intended so he relied more on his magic powered guns. The only real magic ability that he had mastered and used flawlessly was the ability to teleport. Combining that with the GPS devise he built and placed on his belt he literally could teleport anywhere with perfect accuracy. He only had one other flaw besides his inexperience with witchcraft, his other gift he had gotten from his dad. Whenever he experienced any emotion, anger, excitement or even love on a very extreme level it would trigger the dormant gamma in his blood and transform him into a very large, feral and uncontrollable grey Hulk. So like his name, he never got close to anything or anyone for an extreme period of time.

"What's the word?" Nocturne asked as she found she could scan and see at great distances with her new body's eyes.

"According to the Tallus, the Death Squad has already jumped to another reality, but not before doing quite the slaughtering here," Mimic said looking at the Tallus.

"That's awful. Is there anything we can do for the people here?" Twilight asked with grief in her voice.

"No, we don't have time. Our mission is strictly to hunt down and bring in the Death Squad. If they did time altering damage here another team will be dispatched to clean up or fix this reality. Once the Tallus locks in on them we will be jumping," Mimic responded as he watched the Tallus as it seemed to be operating at an enormous speed as it tried to track down and locate their enemy.

"Sweet, I think I might like this gig," Solo said as he looked over his guns.

"I, as well will enjoy hunting these vermin down. Vengeance will be served," Blaze said as he eyes and hair flared in its fiery power.

"Got them, it's time to go," Mimic said as the Tallus flared and all six of them vanished from site.

_**Yet, Another Earth – The X-Tremes**_

Creed grunted as he landed with a thump onto the ground. He looked around and saw that his new team was there with him minus one. Dazzleshot was standing close to Skullfire while Mastodon and Sunfire scoped out the surroundings. The one person missing was the new recruit. Creed had been sure Power Pack had told them that their added members would be there with us upon arrival. Had something happened already? Creed started checking out the Tallus for more information when he caught a whiff of a very familiar scent. He let out a low growl as he quickly searched the area and turned around to face the figure that he had smelled moments before.

"You," Creed growled with anger.

Everyone turned to see a man crouching on top of a large rock. His skin and face was the color of darkness. His eyes glowed red as his white shoulder length hair blew back in the wind with the cloak he wore. Sunfire recognized him immediately as the mutant traitor known as Gambit. He had been from the same Earth as Creed and Blink. He had once been on the side of Magneto but unfortunately, left for dead he had survived killing Cloak and taking over his cloak whose abilities had merged with his own. Out of rage and a feeling of abandonment, Gambit had turned on Magneto and his X-Men and assisted with the side of evil. When they had defeated Apocalypse and left that world, all of them, especially Creed thought they would never see this mutant again.

"Afternoon, mates," Gambit said with a smile.

"I don't know how you got here or what you did to our sixth member, but I'm going to burn you alive," Sunfire said as she ignited in flame and bared her fangs.

"Mariko, everyone, stop. According to the Tallus he is our sixth member. It seems a part of him wants to redeem himself and if he didn't have what we needed to do this mission Alexis wouldn't have allowed him on the team," Creed said with a low growl.

"Are you sure we can trust him?" Dazzleshot asked.

"Now, can't we all just get a long?" Gambit asked as he jumped down and took his new team in.

"Listen here, Remy. I never cared for you when you were on the side of the X-Men but I will give you the benefit of the doubt since the Tallus placed you with us. Just know this, you step out of line or even think about harming my team I will gut you myself," Creed said as he stepped past his old teammate from back home.

"Wouldn't even think of it, ol' chum," Gambit said as he winked at Sunfire and smiled.

"I don't trust that man," Mastodon rumbled.

"You and me both," Skullfire said as he saw Gambit smiling at Dazzleshot and then catching her smiling slightly back at him.

"Okay, let's move out team. According to the Tallus there is a wedding about to take place. If these two mutants get married they will end up having a child that will grow up to destroy the world. Out mission is to find them and put an end to their relationship, by any means necessary," Creed said as they others looked at him taking in the missions orders.

"I can handle that," Gambit said as he motioned for Creed to lead the way.

_**Epilogue**_

"Well, the teams are established and moving forward with their team missions," Power Pack said as she and Chameleon sat back and watched the monitors.

"So, you think you can do this? Won't you miss your home?" Mary Jane asked.

"Oh, I know I can do this. At first I was missing home with every passing minute, but not anymore. I've come to realize that here, I am important and good at something. I'm allowed to do what I want and not have anyone telling me no or trying to hold me back. I really love this now," Alexis said with a smile.

"That's good to hear. Despite everything, I still miss my home and _him_," Mary Jane said thinking of her husband who had led an evil double life.

"Hey, things will get better, and soon you'll not be held down by those feelings anymore and be able to move on," Alexis said as she patted her friend's hand.

"True, and who knows, maybe with this thing I can find me the perfect man or spider," Mary Jane said with a forced chuckle.

"To new beginnings," Power Pack said returning the laughter as they went back to watching their teams in other realities.

"To new beginnings," a voice whispers, hidden from back within the shadows and unheard by the two women who are too into their new job to notice that they are being watched.

_**

* * *

**_

Outsiders Beginnings

**Operation: Zero Tolerance**

_**Earth-Time Quake**_

_**Muir Island**_

"Nothing too exciting about an island. Why did you bring us here?" Black Axe asked as they moved closer.

"This is where the first blow takes place that finalized the road to my world's fate," Phoenix answers as they look at the Island below.

The island had become a secret school for mutants lead by Moria and Banshee Cassidy. Along with them, Beast, Syrin, Forge, Emma Frost and Dr. Cecelia Reyes would help run the school. Over the years it hadn't taken long to build a nice little group of mutants including Wolfsbane, Alchemy, Chamber, Skin, Husk, Jubilee, Lifter, Magma, Shadowcat, Lockheed, Sunspot, Firestar, Shadowcat, Empath, the M-Twins, Emplate and the teenage son of Beast and Syrin, Terry McCoy who would soon become the Outsider called Frost. Black Axe watched all of them interacting in unified bliss and was about to hurl when a strange sound rumbled from the air. Black Axe looked up to see dozens of giant robots come bearing down upon the island.

"Senator Kelly had completed his Sentinels and on live television he setup two attacks for all America to see. In both instances he set things up and edited the video so it looked like the mutants had started it and he had sent in his robots to bring them to justice. Right now, people are viewing fake footage of Canada's Alpha Flight threatening to attack America and the Sentinels arriving to take them out and save the day while right now America is seeing footage of these mutants below us plotting to attack normals with their secret army," Phoenix explained as Black Axe smiled with impressiveness of Kelly's plan.

"What is that?" Moria began to ask when a blast form a Sentinel's eyes cut her in two.

"Moria!" Banshee screamed and then took flight sending out a scream that ripped the robot's face apart.

"Terminate all mutants," another Sentinel said as it raised an arm and sent a blast out of its hand that hit and disintegrated Banshee instantly.

"This is not a drill. Everyone attacks with everything you've got," Forge shouted as he held up a gun and fired off a blast that hit and exploded the robot's head right off.

"No, we need to run and hide. Too many young ones here to be fighting," Beast said.

"I agree, Emma, get Terry and the others out of here while we hold them off," Syrin said as Emma hated to leave them but knew the children had to be saved.

It was hard to get the children to flee. Many wanted to stand and fight. Many did fight and many soon began to fall. Emplate and Empath were quickly gunned down while Skin and Alchemy followed soon after. Firestar took to the air and went nova as she began to melt and destroy giant robots left and right. Beast actually thought they would win this when three more Sentinels came out of nowhere and surrounded Firestar. One released a beam of intense cold while the other let out an intense stream of water. Both had put Firestar and her powers out. Before she had even hit the ground, the third Sentinel fired off a blast that ripped the fiery mutant into a million pieces. Beast knew there was no hope of winning this day. With a final command he told Emma to get the kids out of there wile he and Syrin took a final stand together.

Emma and Forge got all the others out of there just in time as Terry watched his parents sacrifice their lives to blow up the island and take the remaining Sentinels with them. Terry wanted to go back but Emma convinced him that there could be more and they weren't safe. They had to go on the run and survive to let others know what happened. The remaining survivors made it to land and took off on foot while more Sentinels began to search for them and try to hunt them down.

"Wow, that was something. So do they make it?" Black Axe asked as they began to rise in the air.

"Not all of them. They are hunted and some escape, like Terry who becomes Frost while others die during the flee for safety like Emma Frost. Some of them actually get captured and taken in to become part of the Weapon-X program like Wolfsbane, Lockheed and Husk," Phoenix answered.

"So what happened next?" Black Axe asked as he noticed things were starting to change around them and move at a fast pace.

"A lot of things happen fast and simultaneously. The Punisher is sent over to kill Dr. Doom and Namorita. He succeeds but also dies himself leading to Doom and Nita's child to become the Outsider known as Punisher. Senator Kelly has the President brought up for impeachment and asks for permission to release his Sentinels on the X-Men teams.

"Many are divided including the Avengers. The Avengers would soon split leaving Captain America to take a bunch of followers and go underground to lead a resistance while others would join Kelly and his plan to rid the world of mutants. This will result in Hank and Janet's daughter to become the Outsider known as Red Queen. Officially all twelve ripples or Outsiders are created and the world spirals to its doom as on national television they see the X-Men and the Institute get attacked by the Sentinels.

"Many mutants and their allies die in this battle. What becomes known as Operation: Zero Tolerance ends as quickly as it begins when Professor Charles Xavier, Havok, Quicksilver, Sunfire, Thunderbird, Kazar and Shanna die tragically on television. Even Wolverine dies, but accidently by the hand of Rouge who absorbs him into her self," Phoenix said with sadness.

"Then what happens?" Black Axe asked as he watched things shifting around them.

"Kelly decides to run for President and start a whole new world. The Outsider known as Punisher arrives to kill Kelly but it was a setup. The world watched as Kelly was murdered by a mutant. The thing was, the Kelly that was killed was actually Mystique forced to look like Kelly. With this Kelly became President and ruler of the United States as he launches all his Sentinels and creates Master Mold.

"As the battles wages more died like Jack, Julie and Katie Power, Night Thrasher, Turbo, Mr. Stretch, Serisi, Living Lightening, Triathalon, Flatman, Dinah Soar, Black Knight, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. Soon Canada would become a concentration camp for mutants as Kelly gains control over the world and forms his secret Cabinet and creates the horror that I call my world," Phoenix said.

"But in the end you all beat him and won," Black Axe added.

"Yes, but thanks to the Exiles and the gathering of the Outsiders we were able to but at a cost we didn't realize. Because of them, the Thirteenth Ripple was stopped as the Outsiders sacrificed their lives and destroyed my world," Phoenix screamed in angers as her world finally reformed and they were standing back in her Earth not too long after it had actually been destroyed.

"You did it, your world is coming back," Black began to say when he saw Phoenix separating from him and take shape.

"Yes, and using your life force I will have a solid body and this world will live again and I can be in it," Phoenix said as he became solid.

"You forget, we shared a mind. I knew of and am ready for your plan," Black Axe said as he swung his glowing axe killing Jean Grey again and for the final time.

"No!" Jena screamed as she vanished out of existence while her essence and power flowed back into Black Axe and immediately ripped him from this reality.

Black Axe didn't know what had become of Jean's world but he knew that she dead and the after effects were taking him somewhere. When things stopped moving he found himself standing in a very dark corner. He wasn't certain where he was but then immediately recognized his surroundings. He knew exactly where he was as he inched a little closer and watched two women interacting in front of a computer system and monitors.

"To new beginnings," Black Axe whispered to himself and smiled.

**Next: Issue #41 – Battle with the Hulks – Part One **


	42. Battle with the Hulks Part One

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #41 – Battle with the Hulks – Part One**

_**Earth-Gamma7**_

"Well, that was a close one," Thunderbird said after he appeared upon the new Earth they had been transported to.

"I know, but the way we took on those zombie-like Avengers was awesome," Polaris said as he punched his fist in his hand.

"Yes, and if BattleStar hadn't managed to find the gem and destroy it when he did so we could port out those zombies could have over taken us and killed you or any of us," Blink said as she scolded her "nephew and ward".

"What are you so worked up about? We had it all under control and it all worked out," Phoenix said with a smile as she winked at Charles Lehnsherr.

"Listen here," Blink began when BattleStar placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Blink, relax, everyone survived. Best not to get worked up and focus on why we are here," BattleStar said as he glanced around.

It looked like they were standing in the middle of a desert wasteland and the unbearable heat didn't help. Off to their right was a large canyon and further in the distance a very large castle could be seen. Even though there wasn't a cloud in the sky, every few seconds they could hear rumbling like thunder and feel the ground shake. BattleStar's first thoughts were that they had arrived on a world void of human life. Blink looked down at the Tallus and revealed that he was almost close to being right.

"It appears over twenty years ago a gamma experiment went wrong turning Bruce Banner into the Hulk. In an attempt to stop him they infused him with more gamma making him even stronger. This time, General Ross decided to make his own army of "Hulks" to bring him down.

"Unfortunately, the experiment went wrong and this huge state leveling explosion released a genetically altered gamma virus into the world transforming people into Hulks or different levels of mutations or Abominations. Twenty years later about ninety percent of the world's population has been transformed into Hulks and Abominations. Bruce Banner, now calling himself Maestro, rules over the world while Emil Blonsky, severely mutated calls himself Leader of the Abominations but still answers to Banner," Blink read off to everyone.

"Great, a world of Hulks and Abominations, what could we possibly have to do here?" BattleStar asked as he kept looking around as the quakes seemed to be getting closer.

"Man or beast, shouldn't be that hard to handle," Phoenix chuckled while Tribunal seemed to be sitting there, staring blanking off into the sky in silence.

"According to this, the remaining ten percent of the human population have gone into hiding doing what they can to survive and bring down the Maestro and his Hulks. Even though after twenty years the gamma virus no longer can affect people through the air or with exposure, most wear protective armor because a bite or simple scratch from a Hulk or Abomination could mix bloods and trigger the dormant virus to mutate and cause a transformation within the human.

"Today, the human resistance is led by a man named Leonard Sampson. He calls himself Hulkbuster. It seems he is the only human to be infused with gamma powers but did not mutate into a Hulk or Abomination. His wife, Betty, who was the daughter of the late General Ross and ex-fiancé of Banner before he was transformed, is immune to the gamma virus and can not be mutated," Blink further explained.

"So we have to protect one of them?" Polaris asked.

"Well, until the baby is born," Blink answered while looking up at all of them.

"Baby?" Thunderbird asked.

"Yes, it seems Betty is pregnant and do to her immunity and Leonard's unique transformation, this baby will be born not only with powers and an immunity, but his blood will also hold the cure to reversing the gamma virus and turn all Hulks and Abominations human again," Blink replied.

"So when is this baby due?" BattleStar asked.

"Any day now," Blink answered.

"So what's the big deal?" Phoenix asked.

"At this moment, Maestro has discovered where they are hiding and if he gets his hands on her before the baby is born, when she rejects him again, he will kill her in a fit of rage and the baby she is carrying and all hope to save humanity will end," Blink finished as she looked at her team.

"Then we find Betty and protect her and her unborn child," Thunderbird declared.

"Betty belong to Maestro. We keep you from her," a large green mutated looking creature said as the Exiles looked up to see that the source of the approaching mini quakes had now revealed themselves.

"This is not good," BattleStar said as he saw almost a dozen green deformed looking creatures of all shapes and sizes now surrounding them.

"Charles, say near me. Everyone else, take them down fast and don't let them touch you," Blink said as creatures ran toward them.

"This shouldn't be too hard," Thunderbird said as he summoned his powers and brought his hands together that created a loud thundering boom as a wave of power sent a wave of creatures flying backwards.

"You will die," an Abomination said as it grabbed for Thunderbird.

"John, behind you!" Blink shouted as she threw a javelin at the creature causing it to vanish instantly.

"Thanks, Clarice," Thunderbird said as he turned to face his next foe, momentarily rubbing his shoulder where a small scratch had formed.

"We are going to eat you," a couple mutated creatures said as they approached Phoenix.

"You sure know how to make a girl feel hot," Phoenix said as her mood shifted and a power kicked in.

The creatures screamed in pain as Phoenix turned into living fire and set the creatures on fire. The fire caused pain to the creatures but it didn't seem to be enough to kill or stop them from advancing. BattleStar moved in with great strength and speed to pound as many Abominations as he could while pounding them with his photon shield. He was helping Phoenix keep the creatures back but things could be going better if they had Tribunal's help, but instead she remained off to the side, doing nothing, claiming she hadn't received judgment yet. It irritated BattleStar because even Polaris was in the middle of battle.

"Be careful," Blink said as teleported two creatures away as they had tried to leap on the young man.

"I can handle myself, Aunt Clarice," Polaris said as he called on his magnetism to send large boulder at the creatures.

"I love hands," an Abomination said as it grabbed Polaris and lifted him up.

"Then by all means, have mine," Charles said as he removed his glove and placed his hand upon the creatures face and called on his powers.

The Abomination screamed as it exploded violently sending blood, gamma waves, and body parts everywhere. Even Polaris had been sent flying backwards in the wave of the explosion. Thanks to his quick thinking he had used his magnetism to create a form of force field around himself to help protect him from the explosion and impact of landing. He got to his feet, wiping blood and guts off of himself as he saw that where the creature had been was now a huge creator. It seemed that when his powers reacted upon the creatures it made them more like atom bombs. This gave him a brilliant idea.

"Clarice, when I shout, teleport me away," Polaris shouted as he called on his powers and projected him right where five Abominations were standing.

"What are you doing?" Blink asked in fear as she saw Charles right in the middle of the creatures.

"Now!" Polaris shouted as he removed both gloves, called on his powers and touched two of the creatures.

Without missing a beat and acting on pure fear and instinct, Blink sent a javelin at Polaris, sending him vanishing form sight seconds before the two Abominations he touched exploded violently. When the smoke cleared it was apparent that the two creatures had also taken out the other Abominations standing near them. Blink looked up and saw Charles over on the other side of the battlefield giving a thumbs up. Blink shook her head at the boy.

"Behind you, woman," a voice called out as an Abomination that had moved up behind Blink jolted backwards as something powerful hit it in the face.

"Thanks," Blink said as she used her powers to send the falling creature away.

"Never let your guard down or you will die or become one of them," the voice responded as she looked over to see a large figure in a red and blue armored suit holding a large smoking gun.

The Exiles stood there and watched as several more armored figures appeared firing off weapons that made short work of the Abominations. Blink counted five in all, including the one in red and blue that had saved her. Phoenix, having reverted back to normal had joined the rest of the Exiles as they huddled close together to check out and prepare for battle if need be against the newly arrived armored figures.

"Who are you and what are you doing out here?" The one in red and blue asked.

"I say we kill them. Just look, they can't be human. Strange skin colors and weird powers. They have to be a variation of the Abominations," another armored figure in black and red said.

"We are not Abominations. We are the Exiles, humans with powers from another world sent here to help you," BattleStar said.

"Explain," the one in blue and red simply stated.

"We are here to protect Betty and her baby," Blink said as she quickly explained their mission, where they came from and who each of them were.

"I agree with Widow, kill them," another armored figure in black and white said.

"No, I believe their story," an armored figure in red and gold said.

"As do I," the one in red and blue said.

"And, who might you be?" BattleStar asked as he eyed all five armored beings carefully.

"I am Richard Jones, codename Marvel" the armored figure in red and blue said as his face mask and retraced revealing a man with long brown hair and gorgeous eyes, "and these are my Gamma Corps."

"Natasha Romanoff, Widow," Richard Jones said as he introduced his team starting with the black and red armored figure.

"James Rhodes, War Machine," the man in the black and white armor saluted.

"Jenny Walters, She-Hulk," the woman in an all green armored suit that looked very Hulk-like.

"And, Anthony Stark, Iron-Man," the red and gold armored figure waved and retracted his face mask showing his dark hair and matching mustache and play boy smile.

"Oh, I like him," Phoenix said with a smile.

"She's dead," Widow said as James placed an armored hand on her shoulder to calm her.

"Thanks to my late father and his best friend Sam Sterns, they created these suits of armor. With some modifications, I think I can upgrade these suits to not only destroy Maestro himself but I can mass produce these to make them user friendly to equip all humans," Anthony Stark said.

"We better get them back to base before they come back," Richard Jones said.

"They weren't all that hard to take out," Polaris said as he smiled at the beautiful woman in the green armor who had retracted her faceplate to reveal her matching died green hair.

"Those were the Abominations, if they had been Hulks, powers or not, you'd probably all be dead already," War Machine said as he glared at the young man.

"Plus, I saw Leader hiding back and vanish once we arrived," Jenny added.

"If what you say is correct, and once Leader reports back to him what just happened here, it won't belong before they wage war," Richard said as he grew worried about the others back at base.

"We better get back then and let Hulkbuster know what's up," Anthony said as they quickly and stealthily lead the Exiles back to their base.

It wasn't long before they had arrived at the secret base of the human resistance. They were told that there were many pockets all over the world and this was the biggest of the human forces. They all waited patiently when three figures entered the room. One was a very large muscular man with long green hair pulled back in a pony tail, a very pregnant woman and a tall man with blond hair and a walking stick. They easily guessed that the two were Leonard Sampson and Betty but the third man had been introduced as Betty's doctor, Dr. Blake.

"Still hard to fathom that there are people from other realities," Hulkbuster said as he crossed his large muscular arms and looked at Blink and the other Exiles.

"We can use all the help we can get to take out that monster," Widow said.

"But, if what they say is true, then maybe we can cure him as well," Jenny said.

"Why would we want to do that?" Betty asked as she winced and touched her belly in discomfort.

"Because, he's still my cousin and I know that there is good in him. It's not his fault he was turned into that," Jenny said.

"Then whose fault is it?" Betty asked getting agitated.

"I believe that would have been your father who caused all this," Jenny spat back and walked out of the room.

"Well, as much as we hate getting in the middle of family disputes, we are here to insure the birth and safety of the baby. After that, we're out of here," BattleStar said as he moved walking between Richard Jones and Blink.

"We will do what we can to help you all," Blink said as she glanced after BattleStar.

"Thanks, that's all we can ask," Richard said with a smile.

"Maybe we should take the fight to Maestro?" Thunderbird suggested as he massaged his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Blink asked as she saw a look of discomfort on her teammate's face.

"I'm fine," Thunderbird lied as the scratch on his shoulder had started to burn and tingle.

"We've thought about launching an assault on the Maestro but deemed it too risky," James Rhodes said.

"But, with the Gamma Corps ready and with the Exiles we might have the advantage we need," Hulkbuster said as he rubbed his chin.

"We are with you as long as we secure the safety of the baby," Blink told them all.

"Then, since you are able to teleport you should be assigned as the Betty's protector and I am willing to help serve as a personal protector as well," Richard said to Blink and Hulkbuster.

"Wait, I," BattleStar began to protect when Tribunal suddenly stood straight up and interrupted him.

"Judgment has been passed and death shall be swift," Tribunal declared.

"Starting with you," a voice growled as Tribunal screamed and then split in two.

Everyone turned and went on the offensive as a green Hulk-like man with long shoulder length hair stepped between the two halves of the Exile wielding a sword now dripping with blood.

"Skaar!" Leonard shouted as the Gamma Corps armored up and prepared for battle.

"Who's that?" Blink asked as she got next to Betty to protect her while trying to overcome what she just saw of her new teammate.

"He's me and Bruce's son," Betty said as the place shook as the walls blew in and dozens of Hulks charged into the room.

_**Epilogue**_

"What's that sound?" Mary Jane asked as the alarms went off and she came running back to the computers.

"Means an agent of ours was killed in battle," Power Pack answered as she started typing.

"Who was it?" Chameleon asked as she sat down.

"Oh, one of the new ones with the Exiles, Tribunal," Power Pack gasped as she began typing.

"That's doesn't look good. We have to help them," Chameleon said as she saw all the green Hulks arriving.

"There are rules we have to follow or we could cause grave consequences. Normally replacements are sent after the mission but I think I can send the replacement now," Power Pack said as her fingers typed as fast as she could.

"But against that many Hulks? Sending one person wont be enough and if you kept sending replacements in each time someone dies wont help, especially when those down there are actual friends of ours," Chameleon said with dread as she helped Power Pack with the screening for the replacement for Tribunal.

"I can't send more than one. It will lonely allow me to send the replacement. I force more than that or try and send another group in I could do more damage than good. The sole mission is to protect the baby and save this reality, not send in more anomalies to save our group," Power Pack replied.

"There has to be something," Chameleon said.

"Wait, I think I might have an idea. A loop hole maybe," Power Pack said as she began working as fast as she could.

"Very interesting," Black Axe said as he watched the two girls working very hard and so distracted they had no idea another was within the Crystal Palace.

Black Axe moved down the corridor. Thanks to killing Phoenix and steeling a portion of her Phoenix Force he could not only use his tek-shield to hid himself from detection but he now had limited telepathy which gave him enough to scan bits of helpful information from the one called Power Pack. He soon made his way to the chamber he was looking for and found thanks to Power Pack's mind. He stared right into the crystal chamber that was holding the one called the thirteenth ripple.

"Time to wake up. We've got work to do," Black Axe said as he swung his psionic axe and shattered the crystal chamber.

**Next: Issue #42 – Battle with the Hulks – Part Two and The Outsiders: Rebirth – Part One**


	43. Battle with the Hulks Part Two

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #42 – Battle with the Hulks – Part Two**

_**Crystal Palace**_

"Things are not going well down there. We have to do something," Mary Jane said as she watched the scene as Hulks began to storm into the base where the Exiles were.

"I think I did it. I found a loop whole but I doubt I'll be able to pull something like this off again," Power pack said.

"Wait, how can you do that?" Mary Jane asked.

"Well, I grabbed this freshly dead body from this world that is very, very close to this one here. Now I tap into that reality and loop into a section of it's past right at the moment this person is about to die and swap bodies so that this dead body gets killed again and they will be none the wiser and not changing history. Now I will send this one that was meant to die, alive and well to help our friends," Power Pack said with a smile as she sent the replacement Exile to the others on Earth-Gamma7.

"If you can do that then what is it to stop you from going into any past and changing it and saving those we don't want to die?" Mary Jane asked knowing enough of her new job to know this wasn't good.

"I can't keep doing this, and if I did it would create another alternate reality from the one I did it to and could cause grave results. It only allowed me to do this because there was enough residue left from the Phoenix Force used by Phoenix when she brought back her universe I could tap into it and ride it safely into that universe to swap the bodies. Plus, the realities I used just happen to be close enough and done right that it won't affect them," Power Pack explained.

"Then what is this reading?" Mary Jane asked about some flashing lights on the screen.

"Something to do with a cosmic balance I suppose. It appears my stunt burned out a power source for the Palace and will take a lot to fix. Another reason we will never do this again and can't," Power Pack said as she looked back to the Exiles on their mission.

_**Earth-Gamma7**_

"There are too many," War Machine said as he was barely holding two Hulks at bay.

"I'm afraid these armors we wear won't take much more," She-Hulk said as she felt the pain in her fist as she punched a Hulk, sending it backwards, barely.

"They will hold, I know they will," Iron-Man said as he poured on the juice.

"I just got word, Leader and forces of Abominations are charging here. We won't win this," Widow said as she glanced over to Marvel.

"We just have to hold off till the baby is born," Marvel said as he looked to Blink who was sending Hulk vanishing away as fast as they were charging in.

"That's what we are here for," BattleStar said as he charged a Hulk and slammed it backwards with his strength and shield.

"I can take them out real fast," Polaris said as he used what magnetism power he had to battle the Hulks, but it was nowhere the match of what his father could have done.

"No, it's too small quarters here for you to cause such an explosion. Be liable to kill us all," Blink said as she didn't like how easily it was getting for her Godchild to resort to killing.

"We have to, argh!" Thunderbird screamed as he grabbed his shoulder.

"John, what's wrong?" Blink asked.

"The scratch on his shoulder, he's been infected," Marvel said as Thunderbird took on a strange color of green and red and began to mutate.

"This is not good," Phoenix said as she moved near Thunderbird.

"Get away!" Thunderbird screamed as he back handed Phoenix, sending her flying across the room.

"Me angry," Phoenix said as she got to her feet and her mood shifted while she turned red and took on the muscles and size of the Hulks.

"Great, now we are turning on each other," War Machine started to say when two Hulks came up from behind him and tore him in two.

"James!" Widow screamed as she saw the man she loved die and then charged right into the middle of a group of Hulks, guns blazing.

"You will not succeed here, Skaar," Hulkbuster said as he grabbed the son of Banner and threw him backwards.

"I will kill that wench and her offspring," Skaar said as he jumped back to his feet as Hulkbuster twisted his sword back and stabbing it into his own chest.

"I will not let you near my child," Hulkbuster said as he kicked Skaar to the side.

"Look's like me do this myself," a figure said stepping into the room, tossing the lifeless body of Phoenix to the side.

"Maestro!" Hulkbuster said as Betty shouted his other name, Bruce.

"Bruce, please, you don't have to do this," She-Hulk said as she landed in front of him and retracted her face plate so he could see her.

"Bruce, dead," Maestro said as he slammed She-Hulk in the face sending her backwards.

"You are a monster," BattleStar said as he charged the large beast only to be grabbed unexpectedly.

"Lamar!" Blink screamed as she heard bones crack as her dear friend and teammate went smashing to the ground.

"This the best you can do?" Maestro asked as he stepped over BattleStar and charged Hulkbuster.

"I'm strong enough to take you, Banner," Hulkbuster said as he used his powerful strength to land some earth shaking blows to his mortal enemy.

"Maestro, stronger," Maestro said as he grabbed Leonard's head with one hand and body with the other twisting in opposite direction causing a loud snap.

"NO!" Betty screamed as the death of her man caused her to go into labor.

"The baby is coming," Blink said as she turned to face the crying and screaming woman.

"Now you all die," Maestro said as Blink turned around just in time to see two large fists coming down fast.

Everyone, including Blink closed their eyes as the entire world shook from the thundering boom of Maestro's fist coming down. To everyone's surprise, especially Blink, was that the leader of the Hulk's fists had been stopped by some powerful force. Standing between Blink and the woman giving birth and the large monster was a woman with long Red hair tied back in a ponytail wearing a black leather X-Men outfit. Her hand was held up with sweat forming on her brow as she held Maestro and his pounding fists back with her tek shield. She strained as Maestro pounded and pounded with anger.

"Jean?" Blink asked.

"I don't know how or why I'm alive and here but I will not let him harm this woman and her baby," Jean Grey said as Dr. Blake began to deliver the child.

"How is this possible?" Polaris asked as he looked to Blink.

"According to the Tallus, this is Jean Grey from Earth-116X. I don't know how Alexis did it but she pulled her moments from her death and sent her here as Tribunal's replacement," Blink explained knowing that she may not have the Phoenix Force but this woman still had the power to hold back the Maestro.

"Let me through," Maestro shouted.

"Never," Jean said as she held her force field against Maestro and several Hulks joining to pound on the shield.

"It's a girl," Dr. Blake said as a baby's screams started to echo everywhere.

"No!" Maestro shouted as Jean dropped her shield and allowed their air to mix with the others.

Instantly all the Hulks began to convulse as they started to shift, including the Maestro. Jena then used her powers and grabbed hold of the baby's tears and saliva and helped carry it throughout the room helping the baby spread it's on virus at everyone. In a matter of moments the Hulks were all normal and human again. Even Bruce Banner, who stood there staring at Betty and her baby with regret and confusion.

"We did it," Blink said as suddenly everything went white as the Tallus ported them out and to their next destination.

_**

* * *

**_

The Outsiders

_**Rebirth – Part One**_

_**Crystal Palace**_

"How?" The one known as the Thirteenth Ripple asked as he stepped out of the broken chamber.

"I have freed you," Black Axe said as suddenly the room flared and then went dark.

"Look's like a burn out form something," Black Axe said as he felt a strange energy flow into the room.

"Yes, and it seems I am truly free. I am Master Mold," the Thirteenth Ripple said as his body glowed revealing his half human, half robot looking form.

"What ever the girls did I think I like it," Black Axe smiled as he looked his new friend up and down.

"Mutant, Grey Astrovick, tek shield and psi-axe backed with a small fraction of the Phoenix Force, calculating and adapting to eliminate," Master Mold said as his body seemed to shimmer and change.

"Hold it my friend. I am no threat. I freed you so we can work together to take over this place," Black Axe said as he eyed the man closely.

"And why would I do that?" Master Mold asked.

"Because, I can show you limitless worlds where you can kill mutants," Black Axe said as he saw the cyborg smile.

_**Control Room**_

"It worked," Power Pack cheered as she clapped her hands and sent the Exiles on their next assignment.

"Still hard to get used to this losing members," Chameleon said as she thought of those that had died during the battle.

"I know and it doesn't get any easier, especially when its members who have been awhile and you get to know them and become friends with them," Power Pack said.

"What should we do now?" Chameleon asked as she looked at the quiet screens as nothing of grave importance was coming up.

"You can focus on helping fix what you did," a figure said stepping up behind them.

"Who are you?" Power Pack asked as she prepared to power up in defense.

"I am the Silver Stranger and you have let loose the thirteenth ripple and we need to stop him before it's too late," the Outsider known as the Silver Stranger said as he wrapped them all up in power and vanished from the room.

**Next: Issue #43 –Death Squads – Part One and The Outsiders: Rebirth – Part Two**


	44. Death Squads Part One

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #43 – Death Squads – Part One**

_**Another Earth **_

"Death Devil and his Death Squad are here somewhere," Mimic said as he looked at his Tallus and scanned the desert wasteland that they had appeared upon.

"I don't see any of their life signs," Nocturne said as she stood there in her metallic blue body and using her eyes to scan the area.

Calvin was still getting used to the fact that his dear friend was trapped in the body of the Time Hunter. She had been able to morph the body to look just like her old self except that she was all completely blue and still shined from here completely metallic body. He was impressed how fast she had mastered her new bodies abilities, not only did it look like, down the finest detail she was wearing clothes, but she could make her eyes into scanners or her hands into guns. They both didn't know how she did it but the body somehow also generated its own energy to full her guns or whatever her body needed to hunt. He just wished some day she would get a real body back.

"I wish they would show themselves. I could use a good fight," Twilight said as the bright sun reflected off her new purple suit with white gloves, boots and face mask that her brief lover from a previous Earth made for her that protected her body like armor as well as becoming translucent at will to allow her to expose her skin and let loose her powers.

Calvin stared at the once senior citizen turned super powered reality hopper. Calvin had gotten a little concerned about the old lady, and not because of her age. It seemed that her powers actually drained the life force from her victims and absorbed them into her own body not only enhancing her physical abilities but also healed and rejuvenated her body as well making her youthful. Sometimes Calvin was afraid she would or could go too far and actually kill someone or even become like a vampire always craving an energy feeding. He just hoped that she continued to be an asset and never become a liability to the team.

"They are here, I can feel it," Krystalin said as she looked out into open space.

Mimic still didn't know what to make of the half Skrull, half human woman. She had been the daughter of a love affair between Nick Fury and a Skrull named Lyja. She looked human except for her ears and jaw that took after her Skrull heritage. She had been born with powers but not like most Skrulls. Instead of being able to shape shift her own body, she could cause the air and molecules around her to shape shift into a crystal-like substance that allowed her to create barriers, shields and anything else she could think of. She had been breed a fierce warrior but had seemed to relax a little since joining them. The only reason she was on this team was she felt the need to get her edge back.

"What about you? You feel anything?" Blaze asked as she stepped up to her teammate in a green suit.

Calvin glanced over at one of the newest members of his team. Blaze was the daughter of Polaris and Havok whose body had the ability to absorb energy into her body and generate an ionic-like energy. This energy made her hair look like it was a green blazing fire as well as making her eyes glow green. She had come from a world where she went from battling Sentinels to policing all beings with abilities, mutant or human alike. She was hard core, ruthless and often times a bit crude, but she always got what she wanted.

"No," Solo said as he never once looked at her as he stepped past and away from the blazing green haired woman.

Calvin hated that the only guy on the team refused to hang out with him, but then again, he refused to associate much with anyone on the team, which happened to have single and available woman. Bret Banner was the son of Bruce Banner the Hulk and Clea the Sorceress Supreme. The man was a SHIELD agent and very good at what he did, with his weaponry. He had the potential to be a great sorcerer, but he refused to practice his magic and wasn't very good at it. That is why he relied on his weapons he created that allowed him to focus his magic through them. It wasn't this ability that isolated him from anyone one or thing, it was the fact that if he experienced any emotion on an extreme level he ran the risk of turning into an uncontrollable grey Hulk. So despite how much Calvin would like to do male bonding, Solo purposely kept to himself.

"Well, keep your eyes open. We need to catch them before they jump again to another reality," Mimic said knowing that the Death Squad had to be stopped before they killed any more people or ruined any more realities.

"Unless we stay here to take care of our groupies," a voice hissed from somewhere around them.

All six members of the R.S.E. started rotating around trying to find where the voice came from. The ground then began to shake all around them as the sand parted and six figures rose up taking their place in a circle that surrounded the reality hopping heroes. Mimic immediately recognized former member Devourer's large black and white furred form. Next to her was All Father, wrists crackling as he prepared to control the weather around them while Captain Blood bared his vampire fangs as the Super Soldier Serum flowing through his body made him immune to the harmful rays of the sun. Mimic began to worry as he saw the red muscular form of Hulk-X with his adamantium claws, Fearsome Four and the large tarantula known as Spider-Man rounding out the circular trap.

"We see your goons here but where are you Death Devil?" Nocturne asked as she looked for the leader of the Death Squad.

"Oh, we're all around you and thanks to our new body you may call us Death Sand," the voice came as the desert sand all around them began to swirl pushing the head of Carnage up out of the ground and form a large giant body made of sand under it.

"Now this is what I'm talking about," Blaze said as the chains on her chest erupted with ionic energy to match her hair and eyes the moment she leapt to meet the attacking Death Squad.

_**Earth-71**_

"So, fearless leader, what is our mission?" Gambit taunted as the hood of his cloak fell back to show off his white hair and skin the color of darkness.

"Say the word and I'll gut him," Sunfire said as she moved past Creed.

Creed looked down at his Tallus and then at the team around him as he waited for their instructions. He was once again put in charge of a team meant to do what it takes to get the job done and that meant crossing the line things. His hope was to help balance that line but as he looked he wondered how easy that would be. First was Sunfire whose vampire tendencies seemed to be unpredictable anymore as well as his old friend from back home, Gambit who was now possessed and fueled by his dark cloak. Then there was Mastodon, a man who had been mutated by the Dark Beast and now had trouble holding on to his humanity.

Lastly there was Skullfire and Dazzleshot. He really didn't know a lot about these two. Both came from alternate reality futures. Skullfire was from the year 2099 where heroes were obsolete and the line between good and evil was a little grey. Last he knew, the man had been dating as evil vampire before being pulled by the Crystal Palace. Dazzleshot was a woman who came from a future where Sentinels and the world had hunted mutants. The girl grew up living on the edge and fighting for her life and unlike most, she seemed to have liked it, even crave the bad life and living on the edge which was why she choose to remain at the Palace versus going to Earth-116X with the other survivors of her world. Creed didn't know what to think, but on the flip side, he wasn't close to a soul on his team and that might have its advantages.

"I smell death," Mastodon grunted.

"As do I," Creed said as he sniffed the air and not liking what he smelled.

"It's so dark," Dazzleshot commented as she caused light to crackle around her hands to try and illuminate the darkness.

"Nothing wrong with embracing the dark,' Gambit said as he flashed his white teeth against his skin of darkness.

"Let me guess, we landed on a world of eternal night?" Sunfire asked as she began to glow with fire to help add light.

"Kind of. According to the Tallus we are to find the leader of Death's Squad and kill him. This will bring life back to this world," Creed said as he had to get used to the kind of team he had meant the Tallus only gave simple and basic instructions.

"Why are we sent to kill the Death Squad? I thought that was Mimic's groups gig," Sunfire asked.

"Not Death Squad, I said Death's Squad with an apostrophe S," Creed corrected.

"Oh, not sure I like the sound of that," Skullfire said as he glanced at Dazzleshot.

"And who might be the leader of this Squad?" Dazzleshot asked.

"I'm guessing it's a pregnant woman who's surrounded herself with a minion of warriors," Gambit answered.

"And what makes you think that?" Creed asked as he glared at the dark mutant from his home world.

"Well, just taking a guess but if you don't believe me then maybe try asking them," Gambit said as he pointed ahead of them.

As they looked beyond and into the darkness they saw a woman holding her very large belly. She was bald and appeared to have a jewel in the middle of her forehead. Standing next to her was a large muscular man with a boxed jaw and purplish looking skin. There was a symbol of death marked across his chest. Standing on the other side of her was another large muscular man with green skin wearing the same symbol on his chest. Soon other figures came out of the shadows all baring the same symbol on their chests taking their place in front of the trio.

One of them was a woman wearing a green outfit and green skin with long hair. Next to her was a short troll looking creature smoking a cigar. The last two figures where that of men. One was very large and muscular with black skin wearing a blue and red armored outfit while the other had orange skin, short yellow hair and wearing a red and yellow outfit with matching cape. All the figures paused, turned and bowed to the pregnant woman.

"Kill them, my children," Moondragon said as her warriors all leapt at the X-Tremes.

_**Epilogue**_

"The time for judgment is at hand, Benjamin Xavier," a giant robot looking creature said as it looked down at the bald man chained to the floor.

"Please, do what you want to me but leave the others alone," Charles Xavier said as he looked up at the twenty beings that surrounded him in a big circle.

Charles was surprised to see them. He had been certain that he and the others had destroyed them after they had altered the Totems and stolen their power. His best friend Erik Eisenhardt had protested, saying that they had all done enough. They had created potentially the futures most powerful new race of homosuperiors. Mutants as they would be called. Then there were those like Shaw and En Sabah Nur who said that they could all become like gods with this kind of power and they shouldn't just throw it away. Charles didn't know what to do. They all agreed that these beings had to be destroyed, but did their power have to go with them?

His other best friend, and secret confidant, Gene Grey suggested they could alter and harness this power into Totems taking it away from the Celestial owners. Each of them would be responsible for their own Totem and if anyone began to become corrupt they would answer to all of them. Xavier saw this as a way not to fully give up such power and to make Grey happy he agreed and the Totems were altered and that was soon the end of these beings, or so he had thought. He knew what they did was wrong, but despite the bad seeds, in the end a lot of good had come out of it. A lot of good and powerful mutants that had been born to save the world over and over again.

"We offered your race a gift and with your greed you stole what was not yours. That power is ours and not meant for you to try and play gods," one of the being said.

"We want our power back and you all must pay," said the being that had posed as Jean and accused him for the destruction of its Totem. ****See Sensation X-Men #27 & 29****

"You are right and we were wrong. We should never have stolen your powers. That is why I destroyed the Totems and mind wiped everyone so this power would no longer be abused and for all those involved, they are all dead but me," Xavier cried.

"I can see into your mind. We may not have our powers but you posse mine so I can tell you lie. You never truly destroyed the Totems. You kept the pieces hidden away until the day you could learn to put them together and use them all for your own devise. Unfortunately, two Totems had been stolen, the Phoenix & the Beast," one of the Celestial beings said looking at Xavier.

"Unfortunately, the Totem of the Phoenix had not only had its powers turned into an actual life form but the Totem was recreated and destroyed (**in X-Calibur #11**) leaving me like this," the only small Celestial said.

"Even if I gave you the Totems back, they are broken and the power gone from them," Xavier said.

"Yes, but we can reconstruct them and use them as you did on us," one of the other beings said.

"Yes, brother, you are right. As I see into this one, our power has been genetically enhanced and passed down the generations. We will just have to tear it from the children as their fore fathers and Benjamin Xavier had done to us," the Celestial connected to Xavier said as he glared down at the Earthling.

"But it will only work if we have the purest of them," another Celestial being added.

"No, that will kill them," Charles pleaded wishing that those today would not be punished for what they did all those hundreds of years ago.

"We must act immediately. Use this thief as an anchor and connection to Earth, the Totems and our powers and bring every being genetically connected here so we may take back what was once ours," the Celestial being commanded as Xavier cried out in protest.

*****To be continued in the upcoming X-Men: GenetiX #1 starting the crossover event that changes everything you thought you knew about Charles Xavier and his X-Men**** **

_**

* * *

**_

The Outsiders

_**Rebirth – Part Two**_

_**Crystal Palace**_

"Where are we?" Mary Jane asked as they appeared in a small white room that glowed a faint pink color.

"This is a special holding room," the one called the Silver Stranger said as he began to work his cosmic magic.

"Holding room for what?" Power Pack asked as she watched the man in the blue outfit, silver mask, boots, gloves and red cape.

"The rest of my friends, who you call the Outsiders," Silver Stranger said.

"Wait, I thought you all died saving all realities and universe?" Power Pack questioned as she remembered the whole Time Quake saga.

"We did, but the previous owners of the Crystal Palace thought we were too valuable to waste so when the thirteenth ripple sealed in this place they captured each of our essence to store here. Then when Jean recreated our world it caused enough feedback for me break from my chamber and be reborn," Silver Stranger said.

"So, now you are using your magic to free the others," Mary Jane commented.

"I must, if we are to stop Master Mold, but I'm afraid I may not restore them all in time," Silver Stranger said as a crystal monitor morphed out of the wall and showed the thirteenth ripple moving down a hallway with the man Power Pack recognized as Black Axe.

"We can try and hold them off," Power Pack said.

"No, I need you here to help me and she is not enough to hold them off long enough," Silver Stranger said.

"Wait, there is a room adjacent to here where a group retrieved from the same reality are being kept. I can release whoever is in there to help," Power Pack said as the Crystal Palace created a computer console for her at will and she began to type.

"Releasing from crystal storage," the Palace's voice said as it announced the names as they appeared in the room next to them.

"Spider-Man of Earth-928." A figure wearing an all blue Spider-Man costume with a strange red spider design on his chest that went up to his shoulders and then outlines his forearms.

"December of Earth-928." A girl with long blond hair and blue eyes wearing an all white bodysuit that only leaves her head exposed.

"Fantastic Four, duplicates outplaced on Earth-928." Four figures appeared wearing dark blue outfits with a "4" symbol over their left side with four white rectangles going downwards.

"Ravage of Earth-928." A man-like beast appeared with red hair-like main with horns, fangs and claws on his hands and feet.

"Halloween Jack of Earth-928." A man with green skin and long white hair appeared bearing long pointy fingers.

"Doom of Earth-928." A man in silver armor accented in blue with a matching blue cape appeared.

"Moon Knight of Earth-928 of Attilan." A female clad in while armor with a crescent moon on her chest and a white hooded cloak holding a metallic white rod in her hand.

"What gives? I was promised to go home after my time helping the Time Brokers," Spider-Man said.

"Ben, you're alive?" Reed & Sue said in unison.

"Ben, what about Twilight and Metalhead?" December asked of the three that had vanished with the Takers leaving her stranded on Mars.

"I'm sorry they are dead, Winter. We boarded the ship and the Phalanx attacked and then the ship was blown up. I closed my eyes awaiting death but then woke up here," Ben answered feeling bad on how they had left the poor girl but it was for her own survival.

"So glad to see you alive buddy. Where are we? We entered into the Negative Zone but ended up here as well," Reed said.

"It seems a bunch of us were spared our deaths for some reason," Doom said remembering his sacrifice to help defeat the Phalanx.

"Doom, you shall pay," Ravage howled as he saw the man that had encased him and sent him to his death in space.

"Very interesting," Halloween Jack said as he looked around remembering how he had been killed only to awake in the past and then suddenly appear here.

"I don't care the reason, I demand I be returned," Moon Knight said in a strange voice.

"Everyone, stop," Silver Strange said as he used his power to put everyone at bay from moving or attacking each other.

"Let me explain you are all in the Crystal Palace and have been released from crystal stasis," Power Pack said as she quickly explained to them about the Palace, Exiles, what they do and how they had been pulled from their world and stored here.

"I had just married Xina and we were running Alchemax after the Phalanx were defeated and society was being rebuilt when I was pulled by the Time Brokers. They were supposed to have sent me home," Spider-Man swore as he realized that those promised never made it home.

"I was left alone on Mars and removed my breathing mask and passed out to wake up here," December said as anger began to power her as she looked at Ben, the only survivor of the three that had abandoned her.

"We only left you because we knew you would be safe. We knew that we might not survive," Ben started to say as December glared at him.

"You had no right to make that decision for me," December cut him off.

"It seems that the Fantastic Four not belonging to that Earth couldn't be allowed to go into the Negative Zone and was brought here with Ben since he was connected to be stored safely as was Halloween Jack since he somehow was sent to Earth-116X," Mary Jane added some explanation.

"As the rest of us were brought here as potential use in your games instead of crossing over," Moon Knight said as she remembered almost being killed by a foe and then waking up here.

"We need your help," Power Pack said as she explained about Master Mold and Black Axe.

"And if we don't want to help?" Halloween Jack asked with a smile.

"If we survive the destruction of all realities, then I will finalize your stay in the Crystal Chambers," Silver Stranger said as a flare of his powers sent a chill down Jack's back.

"And if we help?" Reed asked.

"I will do everything I can to send you all back home, I promise," Power Pack said making a promise she wasn't sure she could keep.

"Then we do it," Spider-Man said as they turned toward the exit that appeared.

"Wait, before you go," Silver Stranger said as he a surge of his power hit Mary Jane, lifted a canister out of her hands and restored Morph to his regular form.

"I'm back!" Morph shouted as he became a muscular hero with a cape.

"Now go!" Silver Stranger said as everyone headed out the door leaving him and Power Pack to try and restore the Outsiders.

**Next: Issue #44 –Death Squads – Part Two and The Outsiders: Rebirth – Part Three**


	45. Death Squads Part Two

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #44 – Death Squads – Part Two**

_**Another Earth **_

"We are Gods now," Death Sand said as his body swirled up so fast that it created a sand storm all around the R.S.E. members.

"I can't see a thing," Krystalin said as she tried to produce a barrier to block the sand.

"Who needs to see to kill," All Father shouted as he slammed his wrist bands together causing large bolts of lightening to come down from the sky.

Mimic saw the lightening coming down and knew it was the power to kill. He hit his Pym Particle harness giving him super strength as he called on Antibody to come out and cover him with his protective shadow body. Lastly, he called on one of his five powers as surrounded himself with a purple force field around himself. He still felt the bolt when it hit him and laid there thankful he had survived. Calling off his purple power he called on another of his five, the healing factor to quickly keep him alive and back to fighting condition. He glanced over and saw that the lightening that hit Nocturne knocked her off her feet but that was about it. Then he looked for the others.

He signed when he saw Twilight, Krystalin and Blaze picking themselves off the ground. All three had managed to leap out of the way, but Solo hadn't been so lucky. There was a large hole where Solo had stood moments before the bolts struck and there was no sign of him anywhere. Mimic started to wonder if they had lost their first member when a large roar was heard that shook the ground. Seconds later, a large muscular grey looking monster leapt out of the whole and into the air. Solo had survived but it had unleashed something worse. Banner had become the Hulk.

Solo-Hulk flew towards All Father. Spider-Man leapt in his way and only caused the grey Hulk to pause long enough to grab and rip the large tarantula in half. All Father raised his arms and was about to bring them together when Solo-Hulk grabbed each wrist and squeezed causing the bands to split apart as well as breaking both of All Father's wrists. Solo-Hulk then threw All Father off into the sandstorm as he felt a sharp pain in his side. Solo-Hulk turned in rage, side bleeding as he saw Hulk-X with both claws extracted and dripping his blood. The Earth shook as the two Hulks collided.

"I hate that I can't even see what's going on," Twilight said as she heard the roars of monster above the roar of the sands.

"Trust me, where you're going you won't need to see," Devourer growled as she pinned the old lady to the ground with both clawed hands. Sharp teeth inches from the woman's throat.

"Off her beast," Blaze said as her hair ignited bright with green ionic flames as she formed and created ionic chains in each hand.

"I've never tasted ionic blood before," Captain Blood hissed as he suddenly came out of nowhere with great speed grabbing Blaze and vanishing deep into the sandstorm.

"My eyes are letting me see energy patterns so keep close," Nocturne said as Krystalin stepped up next to her.

"Where did Hulk-X go?" Krystalin asked seeing the marks on Nocturne's body that were healing from where the adamantium claws had been able chip but not actually slice through.

"He's engaging out Hulk now. Krys, I want you to try something. Krys?" Nocturne began to say and then realized her teammate was gone and then turned to see Fearsome Four charging right at her with Krystalin fighting for her life in its grip.

"Not very brave hiding behind your sand Deathdevil," Mimic said as he used his optic blasts to try and pierce the sandstorm.

"Oh, you forget, we have one other weapon we've obtained. One adamantium blade," Death Sand hissed as the sand swirled up around Mimic to reveal a long blade right before it was plunged into him.

_**Earth-71**_

It didn't take long for the battle to grow intense. Thanos had engaged Creed while Gamora took on Dazzleshot Skullfire. Mastodon paired up with Drax the Destroyer while Sunfire charged the annoying troll. That left Adam Warlock to face the dark Gambit. Creed and his team were holding their own against this squad of Death's warriors, the thing was, they had to get to Moondragon and kill her before she gave birth to Death herself. They wouldn't be able to do that if they kept this battle up much longer and not get to her.

"You shall die," Thanos said as he blasted Creed backwards.

"Many have tried but all have failed," Creed growled as he got up, his healing factor already kicking in.

"You all are weak and no match for me," Gamora declared as with very fast moves she had punched and kicked both Skullfire and Dazzleshot to an inch of their lives.

"We're not going to last much longer," Sunfire said as she was growing angry as the troll vanished and reappeared every time she sent out a blast of fire and landing a blow to her.

"Give the command boss, it's the only way," Gambit said as he flipped out of the way of a magical blast from Adam Warlock while Mastodon grunted at a standstill hold match with Drax.

"There has to be a way without killing being our first option," Creed mumbled to himself as he went flying backwards again from a blow from Thanos.

"I hate to agree with Gambit, but we are on this team for a specific reason and to go to that extreme if necessary," Sunfire said as she took a painful blow to her cheek from Pip the Troll.

"Creed, look, the others are going to die if we don't do something," Gambit said as he nodded towards Dazzleshot and Skullfire being beaten to a pulp by Gamora.

"Ahhhh!" Mastodon screamed as they heard bones snap as Drax forced the large man to his knees.

Regretting what he was about to do, he gave the command to Gambit. With a smile, Gambit called on his powers as he wiped out his cloak and grabbed Warlock and Thanos and pulled them both into his cloak. After a few seconds he opened his cloak and flung the pink charged bodies of Thanos and Warlock at Pip the Troll and Gamora causing all four to explode upon impact. This caused Drax to pause and glance over allowing Mastodon to land a punch sending Drax through the air. Sunfire, caught up in the moment flew up, caught Drax and sank her teeth in him.

"My God," Creed said as he saw his teammate not only drain the blood and life force from the villain but completely consumed him as they both ignited in flames as Drax burned into ash.

"You think you can stop me?" Moondragon asked as she stared at each of them and held her belly.

"With ease," Gambit said as he leapt at the woman and opening up his gave.

Moondragon smiled as the jewel on her forehead flared and Gambit fell back gripping his head. With a quick glanced the same thing happened to Sunfire and Mastodon. Moondragon then sat back as Gambit, Mastodon and Sunfire all got up, turned around and faced Creed, Dazzleshot and Skullfire all baring the mark of Death on their chests. Moondragon gave the command as her latest minions charged the other members of the X-Tremes.

_**Earth-116X**_

"Why have we landed here?" BattleStar asked as he walked up to Blink.

"I don't know, Tallus hasn't told me yet," Blink said as she looked at the Tallus and then to Jean Grey-Summers.

Jean was one of two new recruits they received when they lost Phoenix and Tribunal during the battle of the Hulks. The thing about Jean and the concern BattleStar had was that Jean was from this world originally but a few years prior to the time they had arrived. To this world she is thought dead, killed by the hands of a Magneto imposter. She would have been dead but somehow Power Pack had pulled her from that moment and had planted her on their team. The question now is, do they keep her hidden or is she meant to or allowed to reveal herself to those she once thought dead. Blink looked over at her as she looked at a newspaper.

"Wow, so much time has passed. I really wonder if this is my world anymore," Jean said as she thought of Scott and found it odd that she couldn't feel his thoughts.

"So what do we do now?" Spider-Girl asked as she looked around.

Blink looked at the teenaged girl in her black and white costume. Rachael Parker was the daughter of Peter Parker and Julia Carpenter-Parker. When she had hit puberty she manifested powers based on both her parents, strength, agility and spider sense from her father and psionic webs and stinger blasts from her mother. After her mother had been killed she had promised her dad she would never use her powers but then took her mother's costume and took to the night as Spider-Girl. She was a little raw but she showed promise.

"We wait to see what our mission is," Blink said as she wondered why the Tallus wasn't reporting anything.

"The Totem of Phoenix calls its power back," a voice said as they all turned to see a robot looking head appear with a hand, point at Jean Grey and zap her with a strange energy that caused her to instantly vanish.

"Jean?" Spider-Girl questioned as she leapt back a few feet from where Jean had been standing.

"The Totem of Man wants its power back," the being said as it zapped Thunderbird causing him to vanish just like Jean.

"What is that thing?" BattleStar asked as charged the being and passed right through it.

"I see you possess both the Totem of the Magnet and Totem of Shifter," the robot looking face said as it turned to face Polaris.

"Oh, I don't think so. Charles, get behind me," Blink said as she leapt in front of her godson and tosses javelins at the figure having no affect on it.

"The power is called back," the being said as a beam shot out, passed through Blink and hit Polaris causing him to vanish from sight.

"Charles!" Blink screamed in panic and horror as the robot figure vanished leaving Blink on the ground crying as BattleStar and Spider-Girl ran to her side.

_**

* * *

**_

The Outsiders

_**Rebirth – Part Three**_

_**Crystal Palace**_

"What will you do once we free your friends?" Power Pack asked as she watched the Silver Stranger work his cosmic magic against the crystal chambers that held the rest of the Outsiders.

"Once the threat of Master Mold is taken care of we will go back to our world," Silver Stranger said.

"What if we can't send you home?" Power Pack asked knowing that there were rules to follow and sending them back home could be a mistake.

"That is not my concern. When the time comes, like I said, you will send us home," Silver Stranger said as he continued to work.

"So, I see I've been discovered," Black Axe smiled as he generated his psionic axe and looked at the group that came bursting into the room.

"Yes and this is where you go down," Chameleon said as Morph became a set of handcuffs.

Chameleon hoped she sounded more confident than she felt but there were only two of them against her team. She had Morph, which she wasn't sure would be a lot of help, but she also had the ten people from Earth-928 to help her. They were all from an alternate future Earth dating around the year 2099. There was Spider-Man, A young girl named December, The Fantastic Four, a beast looking man named Ravage, a man calling himself Doom wearing a suit of silver and blue, a strange looking man calling himself Halloween Jack and a female version of the Moonknight. She hoped that they all survived but her other concern was, how can they live up to the promise to send them back home when their world thinks them dead?

"I can stop them," December said as she held up her hands and called on her powers.

"None of that deary. I know you won't send us back and I always pick the winning team," Halloween Jack said as he shifted his arms into blades and sliced off December's hands.

"You monster," Chameleon said as she became electricity and send a wave of bolts that sent Halloween Jack back away from them all.

"I'm holding the blood back as best I can but we have to do something," Sue Richards said as she used her invisible field to seal the open wounds.

"No," December cried as the pain was over whelming.

"Allow me," Doom said as he placed his hands on the stumps and called on his powers and magic.

"Allow me to join you?" Halloween Jack suggested as he got up and looked at the two.

"No mutant life signs. He may live for now," Master Mold said as he scanned the man.

"Then I saw we finish this sad group off," Black Axe said as he and his team moved forward.

"That should do it," Doom said stepping back reveling December's closed wounds coated and covered with a metal sealant.

"Stand back, this should be quick," Human Torch said as he sent off a blast of fire at the three attackers.

The flames bounced off Black Axe as he threw up his tek shield. Master Mold had altered his form to resist the flames while Halloween Jack shape shifted his way out of harms reach. The fire immediately vanished as a tidal wave of water doused it and flew across the room hitting the heroes and sending them smashing back against the wall. Between Doom and Invisible Girl they had protected the group from the impact of the water while Chameleon had turned to water and taken control of the water itself and dissipated it.

"You really think I would be able to bring back up?" Black Axe laughed as four figures stepped up next to them.

The first was a being that looked like Namor but his body was made of solid water and was holding a trident made of water. Next was a person in a Scorpion suit that was midnight black. The third was a woman wearing a blue costume just like the Fantastic Four but in the center of her chest was he number one. The last was one that the majority of the group recognized. Sitting on top of a motor cycle was a robot with a flaming head. Spider-Man had heard rumors that Ghost Rider of 2099 had been destroyed, but like them, he still lived on at the Crystal Palace.

"Zero, you're on the wrong side," Spider-Man called out.

"Zero does not exist. Only the spirit for vengeance," Ghost Rider said as flames appeared to flow from its eyes.

"It was so nice to find this robot and allow Master Mold to take full control and reprogram it to help us," Black Axe laughed.

"According to my mini Tallus, that is Ghost Rider from your world. The water guy is Namor, a man that was caught in an explosion that turned him into that and decided to live and rule the oceans. The one in the black suit is Black Scorpion who wears a suit that enhances his strength and a tail that is very deadly. The female is The One. On her world the Fantastic Four came back to Earth and they all died but Sue Storm who started manifesting all four abilities and turned evil when the government tried to contain her for tests and experiments," Chameleon quickly explained.

"She's just dead meat," Ravage growled as he launched himself at the woman.

The One held out her hand and as a shimmering bubble was sent at Ravage. Before her maneuver her was hit by it and suddenly contained inside an invisible force bubble. With the other hand, The One stretched it out until it touched the invisible bubble. Once her hand was touching it, the force field ignites into a huge ball of fire. Invisible Girl pushed out with her powers knocking her evil double back causing her arm to extract back to normal and the invisible bubble to vanish. They all gasped as she had been too late, all that came out of the bubble was ashes and the smell of charred meat.

"I'm going to be sick," Chameleon said as the quick end of Ravage.

"Well it's clobberin' time," Thing said as he charged forward only to meet the striking tail of Black Scorpion that hit him in the side that not only sent him backwards with a jolt of force but had also blasted away a chunk of his side as well.

"No one does that to my,' Human Torch began to say when Namor pointed his trident and slammed him into the wall with an unending gale of water.

"Johnny," Sue screamed at her brother as she threw up a field that redirected the water away from her brother allowing his soaked and limp body to hit the ground.

"It's faint, but he's breathing. Looks like the impact against the wall may have done damage," Reed said as he stretched to the boy's side and saw the weird angle his legs were facing.

Ghost Rider rode right at the heroes. Doom and Moonknight stepped up to meet there attacker. Doom launched a blast at the robot rider who dodged it and then sent a blast back at Doom knocking him off his feet. Ghost Rider then rode at top speed, turning his arms into chainsaws. Moonknight leapt into the air and sailed up and over Ghost Rider as it swung its blades. A powerful white light shot from Moonknight's rod causing the bike to explode and sent the robot flying through the air. Ghost Rider landed and turned with it's chainsaws on full power and charged Moonknight who had landed, cape torn off, left hand hold her up in a crouched position from her landing and the other cuffing her side where the chainsaw had made contact holding her bleeding wound.

"Oh trust me, when I found and released these four, I made sure they were very deadly," Black Axe smiled as his Masters of Evil launched themselves at the heroes.

**Next: Issue #45 –Death Squads – Part Three and The Outsiders: Rebirth – Part Four**

****To see what happened to those that vanished, check out the X-Men: GenetiX limited series, posted now. *****


	46. Death Squads Part Three

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #45 – Death Squads – Part Three**

_**Another Earth **_

_**R.S.E.**_

"We had once thought of taking your body but it seems you are weaker than we expected and our new body is much better," Death Sand mocked as his head supported by sand moved near the man hunched over with an Adamantium blade in his side.

"Not as weak as you would like think," Mimic grunted as he pulled out the blade and allowed his healing factor to go to work while he hit his speed and strength Pym Particle.

Mimic went into quick action. Holding out the blade as a focal rod he moved at super speed backed by strength and instantly created as whirlwind. He could almost hear Death Sand scream as all the moving sand got sucked up and into his power created cyclone. Mimic didn't know how long he could keep this up but he hoped it was enough to clear the sand storm and allow his teammates see and turn the tide against the Death Squad.

"I will so enjoy devouring you," Devourer said as she opened her maw and prepared to bite down on Twilight's throat.

"You wish," Twilight said as she activated her new suit.

Twilight could pick and choose which part or parts of her costume she wanted affected. This time, she went with the whole darn outfit. Instantly her costume went translucent, fading away and allowing her body's skin, including her face to show through with it's blinding white light. Usually it takes a few seconds to minutes to affect the person depending on the size, power and amount of her skin that is exposed, but with her whole body, Devourer swayed for a few seconds and passed out. With her now added strength, Twilight pushed her attacker off of her. Twilight knew she had won but felt herself not wanting to stop.

Not wanting to accidentally hut any of the other R.S.E. members with the sand starting to fade, she made her costume revert back everywhere but the direct front of her body. It was a weird sensation and she found that not only could she not stop, but she didn't want to. She stood over Devourer draining her energy as she reverted back to Janet Van Dyne. Twilight had never felt better, younger and stronger in her whole life. She almost smiled until she saw the woman's hair start to turn white and looked as if she was beginning to age. With a frightening shock of what she was allowing herself to do she reverted the rest of her costume back fully covering her body and face causing the white light to vanish instantly. Twilight just stared down at Janet as her whole body shook in excited rejuvenation as well as fear.

"Nice to see I'm not the only one with a killer instinct," Blaze said walking towards Twilight as her ionic chance fizzled away as the last of Captain Blood's body disintegrated into ash from her decapitating him.

"I thought we were supposed to bring them in, not kill them," Nocturne commented to herself as she saw Blaze and Twilight finalizing their foes out of the corner of her eye when she got back up from being slammed back by the Fearsome Four.

"Nocturne, do something. It's starting to absorb me into it," Krystalin said as the creature began to move her into its body now after she had hit it with all her power to no avail.

Snapping back to the task at hand her eyes shifted and she could see different body signatures. There was so much to learn about her new body, she didn't know what it all could or couldn't do but it seemed when it came to hunting her prey, she just had to think of what she wanted and the body provided it. Right now she could see five main body signatures in the large gruesome form. One was her friend being drawn in and the other four belonged to the Richards family. The Richards were fused together but yet they were still separate.

She could see that the large blob form was due to the elastic ability of Reed. The strength came from Ben while the heat and what disintegrated their victim came from Johnny. The most interesting of it all, it seemed that the power coming from Sue was what was holding them all together and protecting them within this creature. She wondered what would happen if she could find a way to get a shot into that creature and kill what part of it was Sue. She knew they weren't suppose to kill, but her body craved it and her mind, how wrong it knew this was, she had to save her friend. Like that, a gun formed in her hand while her eyes switched and she saw the beating hart of Sue and she fired.

"What's happening?" Krys asked as all but her head had been pulled into the creature as the death of Sue form within extinguished her power and the Fearsome Four began to loose hold on its form.

"The protective hold of the group is gone. Unleash your power, now!" Nocturne screamed as she saw her teammate and friend vanish into the creature.

Her eyes switched to allow her to see inside of the creature on a different level. She saw her friend and what must be her crystallizing powers pouring out of her. What she saw now was amazingly odd. Without Sue's power the other three powers were now trying to merge with Krystalin and her powers. This was what her body must have known by helping her figure out how to kill the creature through killing Sue. In a matter of moments the Fearsome Four had transformed into a crystallized statue. Nocturne scanned and saw that the only living life form in front of her was Krys trapped in the center, but that wouldn't last long if she stayed in there.

"Smash!" Solo-Hulk screamed as he threw Hulk-X right into Fearsome Four causing it to shatter into a million pieces.

"This is not been a good day," Krys said as she tried to pick herself up form the pile of crystal pieces all around her and then froze when Hulk-X stood up and looked down on her.

"Hulk Cut," Hulk-X said as bone claws popped out of the monster's hands.

"Hulk smash," Solo-Hulk said stepping behind putting Krys.

"Help," Krystalin gulped as she found herself in the middle of a Hulk sandwich with nowhere to go.

"Close your eyes," Twilight said as she ran between the Hulks and exposed her whole body causing Hulk-X to eventually drop to the ground asleep as well as Solo-Hulk doing the same as well as reverting back to his human form.

"It appears it's time for me to go," Death Sand said as the cyclone of sand vanished and he took a solid body and pressed the devise on his arm.

"You are not going anywhere," Mimic said as he stopped and saw Death Sand begin to glow along with Hulk-X and Devourer.

"Wait, you can't leave me," All Father begged with his limp and broken wrists.

"Sorry, you are now worthless to me," Death Sand said as he and the other two vanished from sight causing Mimic's fast form to pass right through him and hit the ground.

"They got away, we must hurry after them," Blaze said as her eyes flared with a fiery green ionic energy.

"We will, but first we need to gather up what's left of Spider-Man, Captain Blood and Fearsome Four and take them back to the Palace with All Father," Mimic said as he punched in the capture code of the four and sating only one was still alive and then the R.S.E. vanished from sight with their captured marks.

_**Earth-71**_

"So, do we kill out own teammates?" Skullfire asked as Creed as he, Dazzleshot and Sabretooth waited as Sunfire, Mastodon and Gambit charged at them thanks to Moondragon.

"If we take out Moondragon, they will revert back," Creed replied back.

"And in the mean time when they are trying to kill us?" Dazzleshot asked.

"We fight," Creed said as he leapt at Mastodon and knocked him back.

"I've dealt with vampires before," Skullfire said as he absorbed the fire blast and sent it right back at Sunfire while flying towards her.

"That leaves you," Dazzleshot said as she called on her powers just as Gambit grabbed her and pulled her into his cloak.

"Blaire!" Skullfire said as he turned to look over his shoulder.

"I can smell her still on you, the vampire you once loved," Sunfire said as she threw Skullfire down, sniffed and licked his neck.

"Sorry, I'm done with vampires," Skullfire said as released an energy blast from his body sending Sunfire off of him.

"You're too late, Death comes," Moondragon said as her water broke.

"We won't make it in time," Creed said as he was trying to battle his teammate without having to kill him, but maybe he would have to do that to stop Death from coming. They were losing and needed a bit of luck if they were to win this.

"Arrhh!" Gambit screamed as he began to light up with light.

Gambit fell to the ground as he released a large ball of light out of it that seemed to be crackling with kinetic energy. Suddenly, the ball of energy flew at Moondragon leaving behind the form of Dazzleshot pointing her arms out like a shotgun. With luck, she had survived and was able to send the light away taking the deadly kinetic charge from the cloak with it. Moondragon turned in surprise as the charge ball of light hit her and exploded taking her and the coming Death with it. Dazzleshot dropped to her knee as with Moondragon's death, her teammates were released and turn back to normal.

"You did it," Gambit said as he extended his hand to help her up.

"I see your color has improved," Dazzleshot commented as she saw the man's dark skin had lightened up just enough that she could notice it.

"Looks like there can be light in a world of darkness," Gambit said as he suddenly found Dazzleshot pulled away form him by a happy Skullfire, but not before his eyes had locked with hers allowing him to see the light once again.

"Looks like we succeeded here," Creed said with a sigh of relief as he and his team vanished on to their next mission.

_**Earth-116X**_

"Where did they go?" Spider-Girl asked as BattleStar knelt to comfort the crying Blink.

Moments ago the Exiles were standing there waiting for their mission when a strange creature appeared and zapped three of their teammates, Jean Grey-Summer, Thunderbird and Polaris, Blink's godson. She wasn't sure what to do. She had never seen Blink act like this and in the brief time she had been around her she had shown to be quite tough. She found it interesting form what she heard, Blink was committed to Mimic from another team, but this BattleStar gave a vibe like there had been or there still laws something between the two. A part of her missed her home but every day she was finding this adventure quite interesting and more fun.

"Clarice, can the Tallus tell us anything?" BattleStar asked as she finally looked up at the man.

"It won't say anything. I've tried reaching Power Pack but I keep getting an away message and no response to the emergency notification message I've sent them," Blink said as she stood up.

"You don't think they are dead do you?" Spider-Girl asked.

"No, they are not dead. They have been abducted, along with a bunch of other mutants and taken somewhere deep in another galaxy in space," a voice said as they all turned to see a woman with blond hair and an "M" over her right eye chewing gum with six figures standing behind her.

"How do you know this?" Blink asked as she stared at the group.

"Because, I'm Layla Miller and I know stuff," the blond woman said as she nodded at a punk rock looking lady who strummed her guitar causing all of them, including the Exiles to vanish from sight. _****To see where Blink and her team are taken check out GenetiX #3** **_

_**

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**_

The Outsiders

_**Rebirth – Part Four**_

_**Crystal Palace**_

"My hands," December said as she stared down at the metal tipped stumps.

"Honey, I need you to sit here and keep an eye on my brother. Okay?" Sue asked as the girl nodded.

"You okay, Moony?" Spider-Man asked as he leapt out of the way of Black Scorpion and his stinger.

"I will be fine. I will heal, faster if I had the moon's direct light," the female Moon Knight said as suddenly the crystal palace shimmered and a large moon appeared on the ceiling above them making her feel stronger as her wound rapidly closed up.

"Seems I will have to make sure you stay down," Ghost Rider said as he ran at Moon Knight with his chainsaws roaring.

"We'll see," Moon Knight said as she suddenly had two crescent shaped boomerangs in each of her hands.

A shimmer of light passed from her to the weapons as she threw the glowing boomerangs. Each one hit the Ghost Rider and severing each of his chainsaw hands with a grand explosion before returning back to her own hands. She then leapt into the air, wrapped her legs around her enemies head and neck while twisting and pulling Ghost Rider up, over and slamming him to the ground. Moon Knight quickly flipped back onto her feet while pulling out a rod that extended into her staff with the full and crescent moon on the tip. The staff lit up with white power as she brought it down on Ghost Rider's head causing to explode into a million pieces upon impact.

"You will find I am not so easily taken down," Black Scorpion said as his tail went for Moon Knight.

"I don't think so," Thing said as he caught the tail and used his strength and the momentum to pick up, swing and hurl Black Scorpion against the wall.

"Allow me," Chameleon said as she called on one of her six powers allowing four mechanical arms to shoot from her back, grab the Scorpion and ripped his tail right off. Spiderman gave her thumbs up as he webbed Black Scorpion up good and tight.

"Nice," Morph smiled as a gush of water hit him sending him backwards.

"I will drown all of you," Namor said as he swirled his trident and water began to form on the floor.

Chameleon switched her powers and became water and was starting to take control of the water when something felt wrong. She tried to scream but was unable to as she lost all control of her body as she felt herself being pulled towards Namor's twirling trident. In a panic she shot off her powers turning solid and dropping to the ground. "That trick only works once with me," Namor said as he threw his trident at her neck.

"You okay?" Sue asked as she stood next to Chameleon using her force field to deflect the trident.

"It's time I put an end to you," The One said as she whipped out her arm, stretching it and turning the tip into rock hitting Sue and sending her flying backwards.

"Got ya," Spiderman said as he leapt up and caught her.

"I've had enough of you," Doom said as he shot a blast hitting the One on her back.

"I will kill you," The One said as she ignited on fire and turned to face Doom.

"You can try," Doom said as he fired off blasts form his hand at the woman who smiled as she surrounded herself in an invisible bubble to protect her from the blasts.

"I was hoping you'd do that," Doom smiled as he pressed a button on his gauntlet.

The One looked over her shoulder as she saw two small metal devises on her back flashing. Before she could respond an electrical charge came out of them. Since there was a force field around her, there was no where for the charges to go but bounce off the field and hit The One. In a matter of seconds the entire bubble lit up like the Fourth of July. After a few more seconds, the bubble vanished and a charred and very fried body of The One fell to the ground. Namor instantly turned on Doom and Sue but instantly evaporated into steam as a very weak Human Torch raised his hands and sent a nova blast of fire at the man of water.

"Take him awhile to pull himself back together," Human Torch said as he smiled.

"You okay?" Reed asked as he looked down at the boy.

"Yeah, legs are broken though," Human Torch responded as December continued to sit next to him trying to keep her tears in check.

"Oh, you all are so annoying," Halloween Jack said as his hands morphed into large hands and he grabbed Reed and threw him out of his way, colliding with Sue and Doom.

"I'll fry you too," Johnny said as he tried to gather the strength.

"You can try but let's see if you can do it before I rip you apart," Halloween Jack said as his arms became blades and his mouth grew big opening wide to reveal very large teeth.

"No!" December screamed as she pushed out her arms in defense.

One arm stub touched Halloween Jack's chest as the other went into his mouth. Before any of them knew what to expect, December unleashed her powers like never before. Icy frost poured out of both stubs, one on Halloween Jack's body and the other inside his mouth. In a matter of seconds Halloween Jack was being frozen from the inside and out. December gasped and stepped back in shock as she saw that she had flash frozen the villain turning him completely to ice.

"Nice work kid," Thing said as he hit the ice form of Halloween Jack and shattering him into a million pieces.

"Looks like that's the last of your goons. Time to surrender," Reed said as they all turned to face Master Mold and Black Axe.

"Wrong, they were just so I could watch and learn," Master Mold said as he shot a small disk onto Reed.

"What the?" Reed asked as the devise sent a tingly sensation through out his body.

"What is it Reed?" Sue asked as she looked at it.

"It stabilizes your molecules, making it so you can't stretch and I can do this," Master Mold said as he pointed his arm and fired a blast at Reed, who could not stretch, hitting him in the face and taking it clean off.

"Reed!" Sue screamed as her headless husband fell into her arms.

Master Mold fired a blast but Sue threw up her force field protecting herself. Black Axe smiled as he swung his axe and seeing the horror on Sue's face when she realized his powers were psionic in nature and not a physical force. The axe went through the shield and hitting Sue as it went right through her causing her to scream in pain and drop her field as he dropped to her knees. Master Mold then raised his arm and fired a blast that allowed Sue to join her man.

"Suzie-Q!" Thing screamed as he ran toward his two dead friends.

"Ben, watch out," Doom shouted as he saw a spear forming on Master Mold's arm and that it looked to be tipped with Adamantium.

It was too late, for everything that happened to take down the Fantastic Four happened in a matter of seconds. The spear shot forward as Thing ran at the thing that had killed his best friends. The spear hit Thing right in the chest, but instead of getting stuck, it went right in and out his back. Thing gasped for a second and then fell forward with a large hole in his body where his hart had once been. Doom turned from the dead rock hero to see where the spear had ended at and sighed when he saw the end of its journey.

"Oh!" December exclaimed as she jumped back in tears away from Johnny Storm as he slumped against the wall with a spear through his chest pinning him to it.

"Now, to finish off the rest of you," Master Mold said as he raised his arms and pointed it at Moon Knight and Spiderman as they landed in front of Doom, Morph, December and Chameleon.

"Not this time, Master Mold you are going down," a voice said as the wall exploded and they all turned to see Power Pack, Silver Stranger and the rest of the group known as the Outsiders stepping through.

"Oh, bring it on," Black Axe smiled as he and the new reformed Namor took stance next to Master Mold.

**Next: Issue #46 –Storm Front – Part One and The Outsiders: Rebirth – Part Five**


	47. Storm Front Part One

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #46 – Storm Front – Part One**

_**Earth-7000**_

_**The X-Tremes**_

"How is everyone?" Creed asked as his team came out of the white and into the real world.

"Never better boss," Gambit said with a smile allowing his white teeth to glow against his dark skin.

"Yeah, never better," Skullfire mumbled to himself as he glanced from the cloak wearing mutant to the woman he had grown fond of since joining the world hopping team.

"Yeah, you're not the ones that were caught in that blast. Good thing Mastodon has a healing factor or he'd be dead," Sunfire said as she saw the large man's skin finally shift from blisters to a red sunburned look.

Creed looked at his team while he waited for the Tallus to tell them their next assignment. Their last mission they had barely gotten out alive. They had killed their prey but she had exploded in an inferno of fire that had consumed them before they teleported out. Gambit had managed to safely pull Dazzleshot and Skullfire into his cloak to protect them be the rest of them had been lucky enough to be near him. Creed hadn't been worried since he had a very rapid healing factor and Sunfire was immune to the fire and her vampire body also was durable and healed quickly. Mastodon was very strong and resistant to injury but he could still be burned. Luckily he also had a healing factor but it wasn't as strong or rapid as Creed's was.

The other thing Creed had noticed was the rift forming between Skullfire and Dazzleshot and how close she was now getting to Gambit. For the last few mission she had been spending time with Gambit and in his cloak. Creed hated to see Skullfire loose his girl but the more time Dazzleshot spent feeding her light inside Gambit the more he changed. He wasn't so evil and becoming slowly more like the Remy he knew and less like the Dark Gambit he'd become after escaping and taking over the cloak. Time would only tell, he just hoped the triangle wouldn't end badly, for them or the entire team.

"Who's our target this time?" Dazzleshot asked as she looked at the vast area of cornfields they were all standing in the middle of.

"We are to take out the weather controller. That's all it says," Creed said as he hated it when the Tallus was vague and even more when Power Pack at the Palace didn't answer his messages.

"Who is the Weather Controller and where to we find them?" Skullfire asked.

"I don't know, that's all it says. Not even sure if it's an individual. Weather controller is not in caps which would indicate a person's code name," Creed answered as he shrugged then paused and sniffed the air.

"I smell it too, something in the air," Sunfire said as she lit up and rose above the corn stalks and took a look around.

"Look how fast the clouds are forming and getting dark in the east," Dazzleshot added.

"Suppose that is our controller of the weather?" Gambit asked.

"I don't see anything but there is definitely some bad weather coming our way," Sunfire said as she landed.

"Winds picking up," Creed said as a strong gust of wind began to hit them.

"Wet, hurt," Mastodon said as drops of rain started to hit against his sunburned skin.

"We better find some cover, looks like this could be pretty nasty," Skullfire said.

"What, you afraid of a storm?" Dazzleshot said as she really didn't mind the feel of the wind and rain pounding against her skin.

"You should be," a voice came from behind them.

"Show yourself," Gambit said as he suddenly found himself in front of Dazzleshot, extending out his clock as a protective shield in front of her causing Skullfire to give him dagger looks.

"I mean you no harm. Name's Naze. And what is coming is a very dangerous Storm," a boy of about seventeen wearing jeans and a t-shirt that showed off his toned body said as he used his metal gloved hand to push his small red eye goggles off his tan looking face and up onto his short black hair with white streaks in it.

"What are we talking, tornadoes, what?" Creed asked as he looked the boy up and down.

"No, not that, I'm talking about Ororo Monroe, the evil Weather Goddess known as Storm. She dominates and wrecks havoc all over the work with her weather powers," Naze said the thunder began to boom as a large mass of clouds headed their way.

"Guess we found our weather controller," Gambit said as he looked up and saw something moving inside the clouds.

"Then we take her out," Dazzleshot said as she began to glow form her light powers.

"I will kill you!" An African American woman with long white hair shouted as she erupted from the clouds and several bolts of lightening down towards the group.

"Not on our watch," Sunfire said as she vamped out, burst into flames and leapt into the air sending blasts of fire outwards.

"So, you've got an army to defend you, well no one will stand in my way," Storm said as a cyclone of wind formed around Sunfire that not only snuffed out her flames but carried her up and into the clouds as Storm's eyes began to glow very white and the clouds above her began to build with power as well.

"Everyone, follow me. She's about to cut loose and trust me, you do not want to be in her storm's path," Naze said as he hit a button on his glove and a patch of cornstalks vanished to reveal a patch of ground that suddenly parted and slide away to grant access to a hidden underground stairway.

"What about Sunfire?" Skullfire asked as he watched Dazzleshot follow Gambit and Mastodon into the passageway underground.

"She's lost and so will you if you don't move now!" Naze said as he stepped down into the hole as Skullfire dove down into it after the one he loved.

"But we," Creed began to say when he stopped before the hole and turned and looked up as the sky suddenly boomed and then lit up as a massive force of super charged lightening exploded upon the ground causing the Earth to shake for miles as it made waste of the cornfields and anything within it.

_**Another Earth **_

_**R.S.E.**_

"What happened?" Nocturne asked as she got to her feet and looked around.

One minute they had been teleporting back to the Crystal Place and the next felt and heard a sonic boom as they all slammed into some kind of barrier and sent backwards. Nocturne, being very protected in her body, had remained conscious but even in her body had felt the force of the impact. The world went from white to color as they reemerged on what seemed to be a very small land mass in the middle of a vast ocean. She tried to call on her special vision to see if there was anything out there in the waters but her body didn't seem to want to respond. It was as if her powers had been sucked away. Her fears were confirmed when she looked and saw that she was standing naked over the metallic blue body of the Time Hunter. Besides being flesh again, Nocturne realized that her skin was not blue but the same color as her mother.

Before she got caught up in what happened and the rest of her team gained consciousness, she quickly explored the island for clothing. The island they were on was so small that it didn't take long to reach one end to the other. To her disappointment, there was nothing on this island. It was a barren wasteland. No trees or grass in site. Before she turned to head back she caught something in the corner of her eye. There, lying in the water at the edge of the beach was a skeleton. Sucking up her pride, she salvages what she could from the clothes and was now wearing shorts and a tube top. She was now wet and cold, but at least she was covered where she needed to be.

"Nice outfit," Mimic said as he suddenly walked up behind her.

"What is there place? Why aren't we at the Palace?" Nocturne asked wanting to change the subject.

"I don't know. Something blocked our return. I tried to check the Tallus but it is dead. Seems we are somewhere, where powers or technology are dampened or suppressed which would explain why your Time Hunter body is a lifeless shell back on the beach and you are standing here in the flesh," Mimic smiled.

"Yeah, you would think I'd be excited but does this mean I am myself again or if we get our powers back I'll fizzle away if I don't find another recent dead host?" Nocturne asked knowing that this flesh body didn't feel right even if she looked like her old self minus the blue skin.

"I don't know. They others are still out when I left but I got a look at them. Twilight's mask came off and her skin isn't glowing and even though she looks in her twenties instead of almost seventy, I'm afraid without her powers she may begin to age. Krystalin looks the same as does Solo, but Blaze's hair is now blond and she doesn't look as muscular as she did before.

"I made sure All Father's wrist and ankle cuffs were secure even though he was powerless before coming here. We will need to do something for his broken hands, they are looking pretty bad. Now that Krys' powers are gone the crystal chambers have dissolved freeing the remains of the other three Death Squad members that had died. Spider-Man has reverted to normal and is now a human body ripped in two, and what was left of Captain Blood completely decomposed into dust, blood and flesh while Fearsome Four is now a pile of tiny flesh and bone pieces instead of crystal pieces.

"What about you?" Nocturne asked looking at their leader and her old friend.

"I can't feel any of my powers and I can't get the Pym Particle Harness to work. Also, when I stood up I looked down and found the shadow figure I received from Randy lying on the ground. Without powers it is no longer animated and stuck in a coma like state and without being able to go into a body to recharge and connect to the living it will fade back into the shadows," Mimic said as he thought about Anti-Body's hand snapping off and slowly flaking apart in his hand and vanishing into the shadows when he had tried to hold it.

"So if we don't find a way to get off this world or get our powers back, Anti-Body will die and Lenore will grow old and die as well. And who knows how this has affected my state of being and what will happen to me," Nocturne added and Mimic hugged her to ease her fears.

"Now what?" Twilight asked as she and the others made their way to them.

"Not sure," Mimic said as it seemed Lenore's exposed face looked closer to thirty than the early twenties he'd seen earlier.

"Well, you can start by telling me who you are, what you did to those lying back there and why my sister, Susan Storm has sent you to the neutral zone of Cornhusker Island?" They all turned to hear the figure of Johnny Storm say as he and about three dozen soldiers came up behind them holding swords, shields, knives and spears.

_**

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**_

The Outsiders

The Outsiders story arc will conclude next month.

**Next: Issue #47 –Storm Front – Part Two and The Outsiders: Rebirth – Part Five**


	48. Storm Front Part Two

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #47 – Storm Front – Part Two**

_**Earth-7000**_

_**The X-Tremes**_

"Creed?" Dazzleshot asked as she felt the whole earth shake above them.

"Alive, I managed to jump in and close the door but barely by the skin off my back," Creed said as he walked down smoking as his body began to heal his severe burns.

"Is that what we smell?" Gambit asked with a smile.

"What about Sunfire?" Skullfire asked.

"She's still out there," Creed swore.

"Go get fire lady," Mastodon said.

"No, we can't. Down here we are safe, up there we will be as dead as your friend is," Naze said as he put his goggles down and started activating a machine.

"We won't leave one of our own," Dazzleshot said itching for a fight.

"You can't, my machine is almost ready and I can't risk her getting down here and stopping me," Naze said as he quickly worked.

"Before we do anything, I want to know everything that is going on here," Creed said as he had almost completely healed.

"I don't have time," Naze began to say when he felt himself lifted up into the air.

"Our boss asked you a question, now talk," Skullfire said as he pointed his hand at the machine ready to release an energy blast while Mastodon held the man dangling in the air by one hand.

"Fine, I'll talk," Naze said as Mastodon sat him down.

"Talk," Creed snarled.

"Ororo, or Storm as we call her was born somewhere in Africa. She came here when she was a teenager when she met an American man and fell in love. The man she met was name Forge and he had the ability to create and build anything technical while Ororo had a special gift that allowed her to tune into the weather.

"One day, Forge created a devise that enhanced her abilities so she could not only tap into the weather but she could now summon it and control it on every level. Forge thought he was doing something for the woman he wanted to marry but he soon found out that Ororo had other plans. She had come to America as a means to conquer it and had used Forge for two things.

"One, she knew of his gifts and wanted him to increase her powers, which he did. Second, she wanted him to use a gift to build her an army and help her take over the world. Unfortunately for Storm, he had discovered this and had created a devise that would destroy the part of his brain that allowed him to tap into his special gift. That angered Storm and she killed him after she had initiated her backup plan," Naze said.

"What was that?" Dazzleshot asked.

"She forced him to bare her a child. Now she would have a kid that would not only have her abilities but also those of Forge. She gave birth and raised her son pushing him to build her things and she launched her war and has nearly taken all of America into her control. She would succeed as the Queen of all if it hadn't been for her son who renounced her and ran away refusing to help her with any more destruction," Naze said.

"How do you know all this?" Gambit asked eyeing the young man.

"Because he's her son," Creed said as he placed the familiar scent of the boy with that of the weather witch.

"Is that true?" Dazzleshot asked.

"Yes, I am her son and this here is what I call the Weather Machine. I can use it to help tune my ability to sense the weather and seize control of the weather completely. With this, I will take my mother's abilities away and put an end to her reign once and for all and finally avenge my father and all those who've died at her hands," Naze said.

"Then get to it kid," Skullfire said as he motioned at the machine stepping away.

"No!" Creed said as he grabbed Naze and threw him away from the machine.

"What are you doing?" Dazzleshot asked as the kid hit the far wall.

"He's who we're sent to stop. He and his machine are the weather controller. As bad as Storm is, if he kills her he will take her place and set the stages for the end of this world. At least with Storm, she has complete control and will, in her own way, establish a form of world control and peace," Creed said.

"You are a bunch of fools," Naze said as the metal gloves on his hands lit up and lightening bolts shot out at the X-Tremes.

"Sorry, we have no choice," Creed said as he nodded at Gambit.

"I will kill you all," Naze said as his gloves began to charge with power.

"Not today," Gambit said as he reached out with his cloak, pulled a screaming Naze in and then released him, charged at his own machine causing both to explode instantly upon contact.

"Mission complete," Creed said looking at the Tallus and then began to panic when he felt the white light of being transported to the next world.

"What about Sunfire?" Skullfire began to say when he felt a searing flash of pain.

"What's going on?" Dazzleshot asked as her body engulfed in a white hot fire and was gone.

"This doesn't feel right," Gambit said before he and the rest of the X-Tremes consumed by the white fire and were gone.

_**Another Earth **_

_**R.S.E.**_

"So as you can see, we're trapped here and what appears to be powerless," T.J. said as she had been more persuasive in telling their tale than Calvin had been.

"Well, maybe it was fate that brought you to me," Johnny said with a smile, "as for the no powers, you are standing in the middle of a neutral zone that nullifies all technology and powers."

"What do you mean?" Calvin asked as he kept his eyes on all the soldiers.

"You see, me and my sister had gone on a trip into space with her boyfriend and his best friend. We got hit with cosmic rays and when we came back to Earth we all started developing powers. Unfortunately, ol' Ben turned into this rock like thing and died. My sister's boyfriend and stretched out into some kind of goo and died before we could figure out how to pull him back together.

"As for me and my sister, the powers we got didn't kill us but made us stronger. Long story short, she grew mad with grief and I had no choice but to try and stop here and in a major battle we ripped the US in two and our powers had created this cosmic neutral zone. So I have taken over the western half of the US while she rules the eastern and had finally agreed to peace and never crossing the neutral zone," Johnny said.

"Do you think we could go back with you out of this zone so we can see if we can return home?" Calvin asked.

"I don't know, up until now, me and my sister have been the only ones with real power. If you join my army we could take over my sister's half," Johnny said with a half smile.

"I don't," Calvin began to say when Nocturne held up a finger realizing it was the only way to see if they got their powers back.

"We would love to. So, back to your place?" Nocturne asked as she moved behind Johnny brushing her finger along the back of his neck.

"Right away," Johnny said as he gave the command to grab their friends.

After a few minutes the soldiers had loaded All Father, Twilight, Krystalin, Blaze and Solo onto their boats. All five were slowly coming to, but were very weak. The remains of the three Death Squad members were left behind as Calvin thought what safer place to ensure they remain dead is in a neutral zone. They had also brought the shell of Time Hunter and carefully placed a gurney under the sand and scooped what was left of Antibody. It didn't take long before they reached the shore of New America, formally the state of Colorado.

"Finally!" Blaze screamed as she stepped foot on shore and her muscles returned as her hair exploded into green ionic fire.

"Oh my," Twilight said as she quickly put her face mask back on after three soldiers had passed out suddenly.

"Feel any change?" Calvin asked.

"Not yet. My body is starting to tingle but I haven't' been able to return to the Time Hunter body," T.J. said as she glanced over at the body that started to melt and distort.

"Well, I was talking with one of the soldiers and he is a tech wiz. He got the Tallus working and now just waiting for the power to reboot and hopefully we can get out of here," Calvin said as he suddenly took pause.

"Oh, Calvin," T.J. gasped as she turned to see what he was looking at and saw the Antibody was almost faded away.

"I can't get him to go back inside me," Calvin said as he looked up and surprisingly through Nocturne.

"Babe, what's happening to you?" Johnny asked as Nocturne began to fizzle away.

"Calvin," Nocturne whispered as she was no more.

"T.J.!" Krystalin screamed at the loss of her new friend.

"Where did she go?" Johnny asked growing hostel.

"Right here," Nocturne said as they all turned and saw Antibody floating in the air but he was now in the shape of Nocturne.

"T.J.?" Calvin asked as looked at the shadowy form of nocturne.

"Yeah, seems I was able to leap into Antibody and my curse and powers are enough to fuel this body. I don't feel the need to be inside someone to recharge. I am self charging. I may no longer be metallic and blue, but I can still look like myself even if I am now shadowy," Nocturne said as she found she could go from shadow and intangible to solid and very strong.

"Now we can leave this place," Solo said as he felt her abilities back within his body.

"Actually, you won't be going anywhere," a voice said as they all turned to see Sue Storm floating on an invisible disc with an army above her holding weapons held in the air by an invisible force.

"You dare step foot on my land?" Johnny asked as he exploded into a living body of fire.

"That's our queue," Calvin said as the Tallus powered up and initiated their leap back to the Palace.

"Something doesn't feel right," Krys said as she felt a strange burning pain.

"Calvin!" Nocturne screamed as she was surprised that she could feel the pain as every member of the R.S.E. and All Father vanished from in a burning flash of white fire just as the two Storms collided and shock the Earth once again.

_**

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**_

The Outsiders

**Rebirth – Part Five**

"We can take them," Morph said as made himself look like a muscle man.

"Yes we can," Doom said as the heroes all gathered to face the three threats in front of them.

Doom's armor crackled as a mix of his mystic abilities and tech powered up as Spider-Man landed on his right and Moon Knight landed on his left. December, having finally pulled herself together joined them as they saw that were her hands had once been were no replaced by fully functioning hands made of ice. Morph and Chameleon stood ready as well as they saw Black Axe, Master Mold and Namor smile as Black Scorpion had ripped from his webbing and joined them were Master Mold somehow had resealed his tail back on. This was going to be a showdown, especially with Power Pack and her backup joining them.

There standing with them was the group from the Time Quake universe known as the Outsiders. There was Ororo Monroe, the Asgardian powered being known as Thora welding her enchanted hammer. Rouge, the mutant turned armored warrior named Iron-Girl. Sue Storm, the cosmic mutated monster known as She-Rock. Hope Pym, daughter of Hank and Janet Pym who wore a red insect suit calling herself Red Queen. Calvin Rankin, mutant who permanently hold the powers of his world's original X-Men and calling himself X-Man. Warren Worthington, mutant turned vampire called Blade. Nita Von Doom the daughter of Dr. Doom and Kymaela wearing her own armor and calling herself Punisher. Terry McCoy, the white fury son of Teresa Rourke and Beast calling himself Frost. John Blaze, who was bitten by a radioactive spider that mixed with the hellfire living in his body and turning him into the Scarlet Spider. Otto Octavius, a man who became posses by an alien symbiote that transformed him into OctaSym. Elektra Natchios, a woman who found herself bonded to Quantum Bands that turned her into Sable and lastly, Stephen Warlock, the mysterious man calling himself Silver Stranger.

"You couldn't stop me the first time what makes you think you can stop me now?" Master Mold asked as he looked at the Outsiders.

"Oh, we stopped you, but this time we will put you down permanently," Sable said as her Quantum Bands surged with power.

"You can try," Master Mold said as the assembled forces of the Outsiders, 2099 survivors and the three Exiles charged into battle.

Master Mold stood back watching, scanning and absorbing every detail of the battle between his three minions and the huge force fighting them. It wasn't long before Namor and Black Scorpion where down for the count while Black Axe was barely holding his own. Master Mold knew it was time to act. With a surge of power, three cables shot out of his body and planted themselves into his three minions. They all screamed as they were forced to merge their powers and bodies into one massive looking ball of psionic, water and tech. Master Mold then shot a cable into the floor and everyone suddenly found themselves shifted back into the main control room where Master Mold then threw the ball he created out of his minions right into the Crystal Palace Control Computer causing it to start flashing violently.

"What did you do?" Power Pack asked as they all stood in pause as the events had just happened in a blink of an eye.

"I've sent a special virus into the computer system causing all Tallus devised to shut down and explode trapping all agents on what ever world they were on. I also took the liberty of ejecting every being in crystal stasis out and into the universe," Master Mold laughed.

"You can't do that. We can't have that many beings placed onto random universes," Power Pack cried.

"Oh, don't worry. I didn't place them on new worlds. With the system taken down, anyone starting to teleport, or getting ready to reappear or in-between jumps will all simply vaporize in white fire," Master Mold laughed even louder.

"No!" Chameleon screamed as she did something she had never done before.

Mary Jane had called on and activated all six of her powers at once. Her formed changed drastically as she was a mix of sand, water, electricity, wings, tentacles and strange goblin looking features. With great speed she ran at the control monitor and dove into it causing it to explode and pit the palace in complete darkness. After a few seconds, the emergency power kicked on and the room lit back up with a dim pink glow. Everyone turned to see the Palace Computer System completely destroyed and Chameleon lying next to it all bloody. Power Pack was by her side in an instant.

"Mary, what did you do?" Power Pack asked.

"I... tried to save as many as I could from being vaporized. Not sure if I did it since I also tried to reroute and pull our teams back home," Mary Jane said as she started to cough up blood.

"You did fine," Power Pack cried as she rocked the lifeless body of Mary Jane in her arms.

"Now to finish off the rest of you before I take complete control of this place and have many mutants form all universes at the tips of my fingers to kill and rid the universes of," Master Mold laughed as he suddenly stepped back into the shadows and was gone.

**Next: Issue #48 - Be here as the backup story goes away and the full length stories return as we gear up to a three part story arc that will bring us to the Exiles 50****th**** and final issue. Be here for Master End Game – Part One**


	49. Master End Game Part One

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #48 – Master End Game – Part One**

_**The Crystal Palace**_

"Where did he go?" Spider-Man of 2099 asked as he landed beside Moon Knight and Doom of his world who were both healing and repairing themselves from the recent battle.

"I do not sense him at all in this room but he is still somewhere in this Palace," Silver Stranger said as he used his powers to bring light back into the room.

"We have to go after him and bring him down," Sable said as Scarlet Spider agreed with her and the rest of the Outsiders gravitated towards each other looking towards Silver Stranger and Sable for a plan.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," December said with tears as she knelt down next to Morph and Power Pack who was cradling the dead body of Mary Jane Parker, the Chameleon next to the Crystal Palace's now destroyed monitoring and computer system.

"As am I, we had become such good friends," Power Pack said with tears.

"Do you think she saved everyone that was in the midst of hopping?" Morph asked as he became a rabbit, hopped once and then turned back loosing the ability to laugh or make jokes.

"I sure hope so," Power Pack began to say when a strange light began to form off to the side of them.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched as the light split into four separate dots. A strange energy formed around the dots that looked very much like what Mary Jane had turned into before leaping into the computer system and then died. The four dots soon expanded until they became four very distinct large shapes, glowing portals. The Outsiders prepared for battle fearing it was Master Mold but Power Pack knew exactly what was happening. Mary Jane had succeeded and had managed to save four groups and bring them back to the Palace. Morph smiled at her as they realized that if she had done this that there was a big chance she had saved numerous others and sent them home or elsewhere safe instead of being vaporized. They all watched as they waited to see who came out of each portal.

Out of the first portal came several glowing balls of white light. The white balls started to grow and take shape as the portal closed and vanished. Morph cheered and Power Pack smiled as she saw the figures take shape of the members of the X-Tremes. First there was Creed, then Dazzleshot, Skullfire who was shocked to see December, Spider-Man, Doom and Moon Knight of his world, Mastodon, Gambit and finally Sunfire who looked worse for wear and brought a big sigh of relief from Creed when he saw her. Creed saw the Outsiders and 2099 survivors and then turned and saw Power Pack and Morph holding the body of Mary Jane. Before anyone could talk the second portal sprang to life.

They all watched as once again several white glowing balls of energy came out and began to take shape as the portal closed behind them. One by one the balls revealed a familiar figure. It was a sign of great hope when they recognized the members of the R.S.E., the second of three teams had been saved and brought back. The first was Mimic followed by a shadowy figure that had the shape of Nocturne. Next was Twilight, then Krystalin followed by Blaze and Solo. There was one final glowing ball left and it had soon taken the shape of their prisoner and former member of the Death Squad, All Father. Power Pack was worried at first until she saw the evil man's hands were broken and he no longer had his tools of power.

The third portal sprang to life instantly after and they all smiled as they waited for Blink and the rest of the Exiles to come through. All looked positive when they saw fourteen balls of energy come through until they started to take shape and it was not the Exiles. Power Pack instantly recognized them from her files. It was a group called the Guardians of the Galaxy from Earth-691. Moments before everything had gone down in the Crystal Palace, Power Pack had received and alert that a team needed to be sent there to kill Starhawk before he could split in two. The Guardians of the Galaxy, the Galactic Guardians and a few other allies had joined to fight against some cosmic foe. During that fight Starhawk began to split in two, one to fend off the foe's cosmic powers while the second tried to protect the heroes. In doing this it was causing a rift that would completely destroy that reality if Starhawk succeeded in becoming two. Power Pack had forgotten about it and realized that between Starhawk's power, Master Mold's move and Chameleon's sacrifice it must have grabbed them and pulled them here.

Power Pack knew each one as they appeared. Major Victory, Vance Astro in a black suit that covered his whole body with white around his hands and midway up his arms and a large white star on his chest with a small black star in the center of that. Then there was Nikki, Nicholette Gold in her green out fit and flaming hair and Charlie-27 in his blue pants and tight white short sleeve t-shirt that showed off his muscles as he sported a blue sleeveless vest jacket and matching fingerless gloves. Matrinex T'Naga in his body made of organic crystal appeared next to Yondu Udonta with his blue skin, pointed years and red fin that ran from the back of his head down his back while holding up his right arm where his right hand had been replaced with a weapons concealment appendage. Next to him stood the female version of Starhawk, Aleta Ogord in her red suit with white gloves and boots and long blond hair.

The next figures to form were the Galactic Guardians that had been pulled here. There was Simon Williams, Hollywood in his red and blue suit and sporting a snow white beard to match his white hair. The young green skinned Skrull called Replica in her pink body suit. Girud, the Phoenix in his black suit with gold gloves, boots and Phoenix looking bird on his chest. Wileaydus Autolycus that reality's Spirit of Vengeance and finally a red robotic looking being once known as Vision now called Mainframe. The last few balls to take form where those of their allies and former team mates.

There was the animal looking Inhuman, Talon and his teacher the alien worm looking creature, Krugarr the Sorcerer Supreme. Then there was the brown bearded Irish Wolfhound, the red, silver and gold armored Martian named Ripjack, the great-great-great granddaughter of Wolverine, Rancor and her remaining lieutenants, Mindscan and Bat-Wing. The portal had closed leaving these fourteen beings from Earth-691 saved from their doomed Earth to only be trapped on the Crystal Palace with the rest of them. Power Pack and the rest of them quickly turned to the final portal hoping with all their might that Blink and the rest of the Exiles would come through this one but were disappointed when three glowing balls shot out and vanished instantly after the portal closed.

"That's it, no more?" Creed asked.

"Power Pack, is there anything you can do to get her here?" Mimic asked as he looked form where the portals had been and then the destroyed computer system.

"No, Master Mold destroyed everything and Mary Jane gave her life just to safe as many of you as she could," Power Pack answered as she brought everyone up to speed on what had happened as well as everyone else in the room shared their tales and introductions.

"Master Mold is here somewhere, we need to spam out and hunt him down," Sable said as she was growing impatient.

"We shall do everything we can to help you," Major Victory said as his group rallied behind him.

"We have no choice, our world was destroyed before we left," Talon said as he stared at the Guardians as the bad tension between them still lingered.

"I can't believe it," Mimic said as he and the other Exiles said goodbye to their dead thanks to those with the power to easily dispose of the bodies.

"Calvin, I just wanted to let you know that before this all went down, Blink's team was last placed on Earth-116X. There is a pretty big chance that they are still there and were not in the midst of hopping away since their mission wasn't finished," Power Pack said as the loss of Mary Jane still weighed heavy on her.

"Wow, back on the main Earth reality where Darklight is. I'm sure she'll be okay. Once we figure out how to get this place running again and put an end to Master Mold we can get her back," Mimic said as he paused and had to take a second glance at the one called X-Man from the Time Quake Earth that was his counterpart.

"You won't stop me," the voice of Master Mold boomed all around them as they all quickly looked around to see where it was coming from.

"Master Mold, show yourself," Sable shouted as her quantum bands erupted with yellow light.

"I may have shut down the Palace's computer systems but there is some life left in this place and I have gained access to it and thanks to some quick thinking I have obtained some help as well," Master Mold's voice said.

"What is he talking about?" Creed asked as he moved next to Power Pack and Mimic.

"I was able to pull some helpers of my own. I also received help when your final portal brought the three members of the Death Squad back here," Master Mold said.

"So that's who came through," Power Pack said to herself.

"Now, I do not tolerate any mutants, no exceptions," Master Mold said as the ceiling opened up and the body of Hulk-X fell to the ground with a blade sticking through its head.

"He's dead," Mimic said as he moved forward to get a closer look.

"How can that be? I smell my great-great-great grandfather all over him and nothing can kill us," Rancor said as she looked at the gamma changed wolverine.

"Get back," Creed said making her jump back.

"What?" Nocturne asked.

"That blade, it's called the Muramasa Blade. It's a mystic blade and the only weapon known to truly be able to kill Wolverine or anyone with a power healing factor. A cut can completely weaken and slow down your healing factor. To be stabbed by the blade will completely shut down your healing factor. If stabbed in the heart or brain, you will die. If the blade isn't pulled out in time the soul will not be able to return or," Creed began to tell them.

"Or if you incinerate the body completely while the blade is there," Master Mold added as a burst of pure fire came down and incinerated Hulk-X leaving nothing but the Muramasa Blade laying in a pile of ashes.

"We must act, he grows more dangerous with each passing second," Scarlet Spider said as he looked at his fellow Outsiders.

"Too bad you're already too late," Master Mold's voice said as something snatched the blade out of the ashes and the room began to glow with a strange humming.

"Oh now, we have to get out of here!" Power Pack screamed as she recognized the swirling lights.

"What's going on?" Nocturne asked.

"He opening the OTHER rooms," Power Pack said.

"What do you mean, OTHER rooms?" Mimic asked.

"The Crystal Palace has numerous rooms to fit any desire, decoration or situation you would like. They are actually pockets of time, space or realities contained right here in the Palace," Power Pack explained.

"Which means that if he has control of the OTHER rooms he can then trap us in one of his choice and make it hard for us to get out," Doom said as he looked up as several blasts of light began to shoot at them.

"First those of 2099," Master Mold said as the beams of light hit their first victims causing Spider-Man, December, Doom, Moon Knight and Skullfire to vanish from sight.

"There's nowhere to go," Sunfire said as the room was now one sealed room with no doors anywhere.

"Can't you get control back of this place?" Iron-Girl asked.

"I can try," Power Pack said as she hit a button that placed a mini Tallus on each of the remaining people in the room and started to work on the master Tallus on her arm.

"You better hurry," Dazzleshot said as she dodges the beams of light.

"Now, let's get rid of these from Earth-691," Master Mold said as the Guardians of the Galaxy and their group vanished from sight.

"We won't survive if he separates us all and we can't get out of here," Sable panicked.

"She-Rock not afraid of robot," She-Hulk added.

"Hurry, child," Blade snarled baring his teeth.

"Back off," Sunfire said as she and Blade stared intensely at each other.

"Stop!" Mimic and X-Man both shouted as the two vampires launched at each other and locked hands in struggle.

"I have something special planned for my favorite Outsiders," Master Mold said blasts of light took all the Outsiders away, including Sunfire who had been in contact with Blade.

"There got it," Power Pack said as a light flashed on her Tallus.

"You found a way out of here?" Twilight asked.

"No, not yet. I got the Tallus working. This way we can keep tabs on everyone, well except this first group that got zapped. Now to reroute and try tapping into the system," Power Pack said as he got back to work.

"Well at least we are all working together again," Morph said as he changed into a family portrait of all the Exiles.

"Not for you diseased mutants," Master Mold said as the last series of lights flew down.

"Watch out!" Nocturne shouted as Gambit, Dazzleshot, Creed, Solo, Blaze, Mimic and Morph vanished from sight.

"If they only take mutants why didn't either of you three get taken?" Twilight asked as she stood with the five only other people left in the room.

"I take it in this new body I register as a Paranormal like you and Mastodon," Nocturne said looking at Twilight and Mastodon.

"I'm not a mutant, I am a hybrid human-alien," Krystalin said.

"And my powers were transferred to me from my father as is the nature of our Kyemelian gifts. I didn't take after my mom, I was born without the mutant gene even though many are lead to believe I am a mutant," Power Pack said.

"Funny lights gone," Mastodon said.

"Yeah, I am still working on things but I was able to at least get that shut down," Power Pack said as she continued to work on the Tallus on her arm.

"That's okay, this room will be as good as any to kill you all," All Father said as he stood up and faced the other five.

"Really, you think a man with no powers and broken hands can take on the five of us?" Nocturne laughed.

"No, but thanks to the deal I made with Master Mold he made some modifications so I can kill you all," All father said as he raised his arms as nanites swarmed around his broken and reshaped them instantly, his right hand became a hammer while the left became a sharp blade.

"Not afraid of you," Mastodon said as he charged All Father.

All Father moved with great speed and strength as he swung with the blade and sliced it across Mastodon's chest while swinging with the hammer. With a combination of strength and electricity generated fro, the hammer, an explosion of lightening sent Mastodon flying backwards. The group of heroes turned to see Mastodon lying on the ground, moaning and growling in pain as his body smoked. Twilight gasped as she saw that the cut across his chest was still there and instead of quickly healing was bleeding severely.

"Master Mold gave me a very special blade for a new hand. Now, who's next?" All Father smiled as he raised his blade and crackling hammer.

**Next: Issue #49 - Master End Game – Part Two**


	50. Master End Game Part Two

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #49 – Master End Game – Part Two**

_**The Crystal Palace**_

_**The Brazilian Forest**_

"Where are we?" December asked as she looked around at the large trees that surrounded them all.

"I would guess we are in the middle of a forest," Spider-Man said as he got a lot of glares. "What?"

"We are still in the Palace, just placed in a pocket universe room somewhere inside," Skullfire added.

"This Master Mold knows he can't defeat us unless we are divided," Doom said.

"We do not face Master Mold right now. He put us here where he hopes for us to be picked off like prey, by one of his minions," Moon Knight said as she carefully watched the trees around them.

"What makes you say that?" December asked.

"Because," Moon Knight said as suddenly two crescent moon shaped weapons were in her hands, instantly began glowing white when she threw them with great might sending them into the trees.

"I will kill you for that," Devourer growled as she fell out of the trees and landed in front of them with a bleeding gash on each arm.

"I would like to see you try," Moon Knight said as she held out her hands and the crescent moon boomerang weapons returned home.

"I don't need to try," Devourer prepared to leap when something hit her causing her to pause.

"To Hades with you foul creature," Doom said he began to crackle with energy and prepared to release another blast.

"I am a creature created by magic, so your mortal magic trick have no effect on me," Devourer said as she leapt at Doom with great speed, ripped open his armor and then tore out his throat with her teeth.

"Doom!" Spider-Man shouted as he swung up, hit the white furred creature with a web and through her back across the trees.

"Miguel, protect the girl, but before I go," Doom said as he sent a magical blast from his arms and hit a tree before his body went limp.

"I promise," Spider-Man said as turned to look at what Doom had done.

"Looks like he gave us a way out," Skullfire said as they saw a small portal leading back to the Palace where Doom's blast had hit.

"Too bad you wont be going anywhere," Devourer said as she leapt out of the trees, her mouth growing really big as she chomped down and bit Skullfire's head clean off and turned to face the others, swallowing as Skullfire's headless body hit the ground.

"No!" December screamed as the anger in her flared and she held up her hand and released her power causing Devourer to freeze instantly from the inside and out.

"Your time is up, beast," Moon Knight said as she leapt into the air, her moon staff suddenly in her hands.

The staff began to glow white with power as she came down upon the frozen beast. Moon Knight's staff released a power blast as she slammed it directly into the frozen Devourer causing the whole room to light up. When the light cleared they saw Moon Knight crouched on the ground holding her staff and chunks of what was left of Devourer all around them. Moon Knight quickly stood up in a rotating motion that whipped her cape around her and when she was standing up and still they noticed her staff was gone. She then pointed to the portal, "We must go."

"What about?" December asked as she looked at their two fallen comrades.

"The portal is closing, we have to go. We can grieve for them later," Spider-Man said as he picked up the girl in his arms and followed Moon Knight through the portal back into the Palace.

_**The Moon**_

"Looks to be Earth's moon," Major Victory said as he, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Galactic Guardians and their allies all looked around.

"But not the real moon if we all can breath without atmosphere," Hollywood commented.

"I believe that this Palace provides an environment you can survive in, no matter the location," Krugarr said as he floated around reaching out with his magic.

"Well, nothing can scare or best the Irish," Irish Wolfhound began to say when he suddenly started to choke and then turned to dust in an instant as a woman wearing a skimpy black outfit and cape that matched her long black hair minus the single white streak that ran down the middle of her head.

"Wolfhound?" Nikki asked in surprise.

"Who are you?" Replica asked as they all took to a defensive stance.

"I am Anna Raven, the Black Queen. I was killed and resurrected and the only way to live is to drain the life force of my prey with a single touch," the Black Queen said with a smile.

"She's a vampire," the Spirit of Vengeance said as he leapt at her.

"Nice try," Black Queen laughed as she leapt out of his way and landed behind him and turned him to dust with a single touch of her hand to his skull. "I can drain any life force and power making me quicker and stronger and more beautiful," She added as she quickly turned Mainframe into dust.

"We can take her," Rancor said as she and her minions attacked.

Black Queen laughed as within seconds she had turned both Batwing and Mindscan into dust. She was about to touch Rancor when a power blast hit her and sent her backwards. Black Queen got up to see Starhawk and the rest of the Guardians ready for battle. They knew they would easily take her down until she made one final move. With great speed she reached and touched Hollywood and Replica at the same time. As they both turned to dust something started to happen to Black Queen. With the mix of her powers, ion energy and shape shifting, suddenly there were now thirty Black Queens all hungry for more.

"There's no way we can defeat her now," Talon said as he used his magic to destroy the first ten that came at them only to see them reform and split into two making Black Queen's number forty.

"There is a way," Girud said as he looked at Krugarr who nodded.

"What are you talking about?" Major Victory asked.

"You must keep them busy long enough for us to complete our spell," Krugarr said as he took Girud and they began to merge magic with the Phoenix Force.

"Easier said than done," Yondu said as he released arrow after arrow.

"There's too many," Ripjack said moments before he suddenly turned to dust.

"We must buy them time," Major Victory said as he pushed with his powers to keep a protective barrier around the two so the Dark Queens could not touch them.

"It is done, Queen be gone!" Krugarr screamed as he released his spell fueled by his magic, the Phoenix Force and both of their very life forces.

"No!" Nikki screamed as she realized what they were doing.

A fiery bird made of the suns light, fire and surrounded with magical energy began to take form as both Krugarr and Girud began to fade and dissolve. Every Dark Queen turned and screamed at the sight of the mighty bird as they began to turn to dust. The giant bird let out a loud scream and exploded in a burst of fire and magic that engulfed the entire area of the moon. When the light faded, Nikki, Charlie-27, Yondu, Starhawk, Matrinex and Rancor all stood next to Major Victory and Talon who were working together to create a protective barrier around them. They realized that all the Black Queen's were gone and dust was floating everywhere. They also noticed that Krugarr and Girud were gone as well. They had sacrificed their lives to save them, destroy the Black Queen and had ripped open a portal for them to escape back into the Crystal Palace.

"So many lost," Nikki said as she looked around at all the dust.

"We better go," Talon said as they all turned to see their Inhuman friend now wearing Krugarr's magical cloak.

_**Desert Wasteland**_

"I am so getting tired of all this," Morph said as he looked around and saw nothing but sand, his comic personality slowly fading the more he watching his friends die.

"I just want to kill this Master Mold and then find Blink," Mimic said.

"You and me both," Creed added with a sigh.

"Don't worry, I'll keep ya safe," Gambit said with a smile as he smiled at Dazzleshot.

"So where are we?" Solo asked as he looked at Blaze, her flaming ionic green hair catching more than his eye.

"You are at your gravesite," a voice cackled as the sand around them began to swirl as the form of Death Sand took shape before them.

"Oh, about time," Solo said as he pointed his guns, channeled his magic and fired.

"You can't hurt me," Death Sand said as his form had blown apart and then reformed from the sand all around them.

"But I can hurt you," he added as a fist took shape and held out an Adamantium blade that he swung slicing open Solo's chest.

"Bret!" Blaze screamed as she ran to his side, blood gushing everywhere.

"Go away," Solo grunted through his clenched teeth.

"No, let me help you," Blaze said as flaming ionic energy burned form her hand as she tried to seal the wound.

"No, I said, get back!" Solo screamed as he suddenly roared in anger, throwing Blaze across the sand as he became the very angry and massive Grey Hulk.

"We can't beat sand," Dazzleshot said getting frustrated as every blast of light she sent did no damage against a villain made of sand.

"No, but he can," Mimic said as they saw the Grey Hulk Solo leap into the air at Death Sand.

They all watched as Death Sand shoved the Adamantium Blade deep into Solo's chest and held him up in the air. Hulk smiled as he reverted back to Solo. Placing both hands around the bald, for the first time in a very long time, Solo called forth all of his magical abilities and released a spell with all his might. When the light faded form the spell Solo was laying on the ground while Death Sand was magically trapped in a normal form. Mimic didn't waist a moment, he placed his hand upon Death Sand and called on his power as Death Sand instantly turned to steel. Solo had sacrificed himself to save them all and with his final breath he used his magic to open a portal for them to go back into the Palace.

_**Crystal Palace Control Room**_

"How is Mastodon?" Power Pack asked.

"He is alive, barely but he is healing slowly," Twilight said as she knelt down next to her large friend.

"We need to take him down and fast," Krystalin said as she stared at All Father who had a lightening summoning hammer in one hand and the Muramasa Blade in the other.

"This should be fairly easy, Twilight if you would," Nocturne said as the oldest member of their team nodded.

Everyone closed their eyes as she stepped in front of All Father and gave the command for her suit and mask to retract and vanish exposing her entire body. Instantly a blinding white light shot form her body and engulfed the entire room, including All Father. Not able to take his eyes away, All Father grew weaker as Twilight grew stronger. It took longer than normal but after a few minutes the evil man before them passed out and fell forward. Twilight gasped in shock and willed her suit back shouting off her powers and the light as All Father fell forward and accidentally fell on top of his on Muramasa blade, killing him.

"Always dump, even to the end," Nocturne commented.

"Should we pull the blade out?" Power Pack asked as she looked at the others.

"No, we don't want to take the chance he heals and survives," Krystalin said.

"But that blade could prove helpful," Nocturne said more to herself then the others.

"Well, he said if it stays in long enough it will bring a permanent death, so," Krystalin said as she unleashed her powers and encased All Father and the blade in a crystal prison.

"I have a tracking on where Master Mold is we better go," Power Pack said as she began to lead the others out of the room while pausing at so many lights on the Tallus blinking out.

_**Another Room in the Crystal Palace**_

"Where are we?" Punisher asked as she looked around the room.

"Your final resting place," Master Mold said as he appeared in the room across from the Outsiders.

The Outsiders all stood together as they looked at the man they had all come together to defeat and sacrificed themselves and their world to save all realities. It appeared not only had Master Mold been brought back and kept at the Crystal Palace but so had all twelve Outsiders. Each, like Master Mold, a ripple in time that should never have been created. There was Iron-Girl, the mutant known as Rouge who's powers, merged with the Phalanx had cursed her with the ability to assimilate a person and their abilities into herself and making her into something new. Thanks to her three victims, Iron-Man, Photon and Wolverine, she looked like Iron-Man, could self power and self heal. This curse kept her from getting close to anyone in fear of doing the same to them.

She-Rock, a young girl named Susan Storm who was willing to follow her boyfriend into space to only be hit with cosmic rays that turned her into a horrible orange rock-skinned monster who's boyfriend rejected her and hunted her instead of loving her forcing her to spend her life in isolation and hiding. Thora, the mutant known as Ororo Monroe who was deemed worthy to weld the enchanted hammer Mjolnir, gave her the power of the god of thunder along with her power over the weather. Red Queen, Hank and Janet Pym's shrinking and insect controlling daughter named Hope Pym.

X-Man, the mutant named Calvin Rankin who was permanently stuck with the powers of a totally different set of original X-Men. He got the power of healing, strength, agility, luck, sensing and tracking, flight and charging items from Sabretooth, Namor, Longshot, Caliban and Gambit. Blade, the mutant turned day walker vampire named Warren Worthington. Punisher, the daughter of Victor Von Doom and Kymaera who gave up her rule of Latvia and Atlantis to hunt those in need of punishing. Frost, the white furred mutant son of Theresa Rourke and Henry McCoy named Terry McCoy who was one of few to survive the slaughtering of mutants.

Scarlet Spider, the destined spirit of vengeance that happened to get bit by a radioactive spider instead turning John Blaze into a major super hero with the combined abilities of a spider and hellfire. OctaSym, a conflicting vigilante who's always trying to decide right from wrong when an alien Symbiote merged with a man named Otto Octavios. Sable, an assassin known as Elektra Natchios who accidentally got bonded with a pair of Quantum Bands and the final member, Stephen Warlock the Silver Stranger. A welder of cosmic magic when a freak event caused Silver Surfer, Adam Warlock and Dr. Strange to die, merge and be reborn into a single being.

"There is no way you will survive this fight," Sable said as her bands began to glow and she lifted up into the air ready for battle.

"Die!" Punisher said as she pulled out her gun and fired a blast that blew off Master Mold's arm.

"Finally this will be over," X-Man said as he flew and with luck landed behind Master Mold, touched his arm and charged it enough to make it explode off sending Master Mold completely armless to the ground.

"You think this will stop me?" Master Mold said as he suddenly rebuilt his arms while his two arms on the ground reformed and became two Sentinels.

Master Mold held up a weird gun and fired a pulse blast. Everyone but X-Man and Punisher had moved out of the way since they were the closest and found they had become powerless. In that instant the two Sentinels attacked and instantly killed both Punisher and X-Man, blowing holes into and disintegrating chunks of their bodies. The rest of the Outsiders prepared to attack when Master Mold held up his gun again prepared to fire when a strange purple energy grabbed the gun and crushed it. Just as Master Mold turned to see what had got the best of him, several power sources fired and the two Sentinels had been completely destroyed.

"Sorry, Master Mold, you won't get that trick again," Mimic said as he released his purple energy power allowing the broken gun to fall into Power Pack's hands who quickly disintegrated it.

"It's over, you've lost," Creed growled as all of the surviving members of the various groups entered the room and took stance next to the remaining Outsiders.

"I don't know how you all survived but I am far from being defeated. Let the battle for the Crystal Palace and the Multiverse begin," Master Mold said as he gave a command and dozens of guns dropped from the ceiling while panels slid open along every wall allowing hundreds of Sentinels to step into the room and surround the group of reality hopping heroes.

**Next: Final Issue: #50 – Master End Game – Part Three **


	51. Master End Game Part Three

**The New Exiles**

**Issue #50 – Master End Game – Part Three**

_**The Battle for the Crystal Palace**_

"Kill them all!" Master Mold commanded as his army of Sentinels launched at the gathered group while laser fire from all the guns let loose as well.

"We must not let Master Mold win," Iron-Girl said as she tried to self heal as fast as she was trying to blow the Sentinels apart.

"You are no match for the goddess of thunder," Thora said as she combines her powers with that of her enchanted hammer to rip a path through the attacking robots with her lightening.

"Blade, behind you!" Red Queen shouted a warning before she shrunk down and dodged laser blasts.

"Thanks, kid," Blade said as he flew out of the way before a Sentinel had zapped him and landed behind, taking its head off with his blades.

"Die!" Frost screamed as he released his sonic roar that seemed to have little effect on the advancing robots.

"We will stand together," Scarlet Spider said as he fired his hellfire webs to block the laser fire and then blow apart the sentinels with his hellfire blasts.

"We not like robots," OctaSym said as octopus-like tentacles shot out form his back and began to grab and rip apart the Sentinels.

"If you're going to do something, now would be the time," Sable said as she tore through Sentinels with her quantum band created weapons.

"My concentration must not be rushed or disturbed," was all Silver Stranger said as his cosmic magic shielded him from fire while he worked on a spell.

"The more we take down the more that keeps coming at us," Nikki said as she, Charlie-27, Matrinex, Yondu, Starhawk, Rancor, Talon and Major Victory stood back to back fending off the attacking robots.

"All we can do is keep fighting," Spider-Man 20099 said as he leapt to avoid a laser blast while December stood near the Guardians of the Galaxy doing her best to flash freeze the robots.

"Fighting is what I love to do," Moon Knight said as she leapt in the air wrecking havoc upon the Sentinels with a mix of her powered staff and crescent shaped throwing blades.

"I don't know how much more I can take," Power Pack said as she kept growing bright as she absorbed all the laser blasts pelting into her body.

"I know what you mean," Morph mumbled as he shape shifted to avoid his enemy without any humorous commentary.

"There has to be a way to turn off the laser guns," Mimic said as he switched between his purple energy powers, steel touch and optic blasts to tear through Sentinels as he added strength and speed form his Pym Particle harness he wore.

"I'll see what I can do," Nocturne said as she was able to switch from tangible to intangible to avoid any fire power as she flew towards the ceiling.

"Unfortunately my powers are useless against these robots but I luckily have enough power stored form All Father to enhance my strength and agility," Twilight said as he did her best to avoid the attacking Sentinels and laser fire from above.

"Seems you're getting your mojo back," Blaze smiled as she tore through the Sentinels with her ionic flaming chains.

"Yes, this is what I needed to get back into doing what I do best," Krystalin said as he moved with great fighting skill as she used her crystal generating powers to encase and to make metal ripping weapons.

"The laser guns in the walls keep popping up as fast as I can take them out," Dazzleshot said as she used her luck and light powers to blow guns to pieces left and right while Mastodon, despite still healing fought the Sentinels with his brute strength.

"You're doing great," Creed said as his healing factor worked in overdrive as he battled the robots wishing his healing abilities could heal Dazzleshot heart from the news of losing Skullfire.

"Yes, you are," Gambit smiled as he released another set of charged Sentinels form his clock and sent them into other robots with exploding results.

"Gambit, can't you just get right behind Master Mold and do that little trick and end this all?" Sunfire asked as she pelted the robots with her fire.

"No, there is an energy field around him that would kill any instantly that tried to get near him. I am working on that," Silver Stranger added.

"Now that I've recorded all your powers and moves it's time to finish you off," Master Mold said as the laser guns vanished when he diverted all their power and energy directly into his Sentinels and they began to glow a strange purple and pink pulsating color.

"She-Rock smash," She-Rock said as she ran at a Sentinel.

The blasts it fired seemed to have no affect on her but when she got close enough something happened that did. The Sentinel reached out and grabbed her neck and suddenly the purple and pink glow seemed to leave the robot's body and flow into and consume She-Rock. She-Rock pushed back as she continued to glow instead of the Sentinel that had touched her. After a few seconds the glow faded and She-Rock found that she was no longer covered in orange rock but was now flesh and blood. She looked at her hands and then at the rest of the Outsiders.

"I'm normal," was all Sue Storm could muster to say.

"Okay people, watch yourselves, it seems one touch from a Sentinel and they send a charge into your body that depowers you. Not sure if it's permanent but it also renders the Sentinel powerless as well," Silver Stranger said he floated farther away from the Sentinels as he focused on a spell to break through the shield Master Mold had placed around him using what resources of the Crystal Palace he could control.

"As long as they don't touch us we are fine. They can't do much else now," Frost said as he leapt back and let out a sonic roar that sent several robots back.

"My Sentinels may be down until they recharge but they are far from powerless," Master Mold said as the Sentinel that had depowered She-Rock raised it's arm and shot off a metal spear that pierced Sue through the chest killing her instantly.

"Sue!" Iron-Girl screamed as she saw her longtime teammate fall at the same time a Sentinel depowered, not because he touched someone but because he had released the energy as a power blast that hit Frost disintegrating and turning him to ash instantly.

"This is getting old," Scarlet Spider said as he ripped the depowered Sentinel in half with his hellfire webbing while Sable sliced the other one in half with her quantum band created sword.

"What ever that glowing energy is it also makes them more resistant to harm," Sunfire said as she and Dazzleshot blasted away at the Sentinels that shrugged off their blasts.

"And we can't get too close. Once touch and we lose our abilities," Creed said as he glanced over and saw Mastodon get reverted back to normal David Landers.

"Or get disintegrated by their power release," Mimic added just as a Sentinel released a blast at Twilight.

"Lenore!" David said as with a new found energy threw himself between the blast and Twilight and saving her life as he was instantly turned to ash.

"Now to end this," Master Mold said as he gave a command to all his remaining Sentinels.

"This isn't good," Nocturne said as all the heroes found themselves standing together in the center of the room while all the Sentinels surrounded them and glowing very fiercely.

"Everyone, they're about to," Mimic began to say when his voice was drowned out.

"Fire!" Master Mold shouted as big boom sounded as every Sentinel released their power and sent dozens of disintegrating blasts right at the Crystal Palace Defenders.

"Victory is, what?" Master Mold said as he began to cheer and then stopped when the glowing faded and amongst the ash he still saw several figures still standing.

"Did I do it?" December asked, very weak and fell.

"Yes you did," Spider-Man 2099 said catching the feinting girl as he and Moon Knight saw the very then barrier that was left from December pushing out with her powers to keep an ice field up long enough to protect them from the blast.

"That was a close one," Major Victory said as he and Talon had managed to combine their powers to create a protective shield in time save his Guardians of the Galaxy.

"You are safe," Gambit said as he reappeared opening his cape allowing Dazzleshot and Sunfire to walk out, safe due to their light powers.

"Exiles?" Mimic called out as he looked around and saw that his purple energy shield had held long enough to protect himself, Creed, Twilight and Blaze.

"We lost Krystalin," Nocturne said as her shadow form had protected her from the blast but not their longtime teammate who was now ash, inches from where Mimic's shield ended.

"As well as Morph," Power Pack cried as she knelt before a pile of ash, her body glowing brightly from the amount of energy she had to absorb to survive.

"Outsiders, I did what I could to create a protective barrier but I couldn't extend too much of my energy to stop my progress against Master Mold's barrier," Silver Stranger said as he kept his eyes on their enemy.

"Don't worry, I helped re-enforce it," Sable said as she looked around and saw everyone had made it but two.

"I didn't think I was going to make it but his tentacles grabbed me by my foot and threw me at the last second saving me," Red Queen said finding herself saddened by making it into the barrier and turn around just in time to see OctaSym disintegrate as she rubbed her foot where she was sure had been caught in the blast but relieved to see it was still there.

"Oh, Ororo," Iron-Girl knelt down by the woman who's body from the waist down was ash while from the body up was seared and barely hanging on to life.

"I almost made it," Thora said as she looked up at her old friend.

"You may have survived but you won't survive me," Master Mold declared as he shouted a command and they saw that the Sentinels were starting to recharge but looked as if they were moments away from being pulled and absorbed into Master Mold.

"You must hurry," Thora said to Iron-Girl.

"I can't, not again," Iron-Girl said.

"You must, as my power and the enchantment of the hammer will fade with my life you can't delay," Thora said as she used the last of her strength to hold up her enchanted hammer.

Rouge let louse her tears as Iron-Girl reached out and grabbed the hammer. Instantly the armor around her hand parted and began to cover and absorb the hammer. Just before Ororo took her last breath, what was left of Thora and her hammer has completely been absorbed directly into Iron-Girl and became a part of her forever. Iron-Girl felt strange as her body and powers integrated that of Thora and her hammer into her own being. After a few seconds Iron-Girl could feel and see that her armored outside was reinforced and had become stronger and more durable. There was something else in her that enforced her Photon power but was its own weapon as well and she was ready for payback.

"Stand back everyone," Iron-Girl said as those that didn't know her still stared in shock and disgust at what she had just done to Thora.

Calling on her new found energy source Iron-Girl, for Thora and all those they had lost, let loose. Power flared around her body as thunder boomed and streams of electricity accompanied by streaks of lightening erupted form all around her body and hit every Sentinel causing them to explode into pieces. After the attack, Iron-Girl dropped to one knee as she felt the power and her body weaken form the strain of the attack and the amount of power she had unleashed. She knelt down to one knee and gave a silent thanks to Thora for her gift.

"Wow, I don't know if I should be impressed or disgusted," Gambit said as Dazzleshot glared at him.

"Impossible," Master Mold said as he moved closer to them.

"Done!" Silver Strange said as a blast of cosmic energy left his body and collided with the field around Master Mold causing the entire Palace to go dark upon impact.

"I can still kill you all," Master Mold said as the glow from his body lit up part of the room.

"Not anymore. It's time I take the Palace back," a vice said as a hand touched Master Mold and caused him to shriek as his body was thrown across the room.

"Ladonna!" Power Pack screamed as she saw the Continuum Coordinator of the Crystal Palace in all her beauty of long blond hair and flowing white gown.

"Yes, I have finally made it back, and not a moment too soon. I may have helped but I am not able to take a life," Ladonna said as she stared at Master Mold who was struggling to get back to his feet.

"Don't worry, we can," Mimic said as he placed his hand on top of Master Mold causing him to turn to steel instantly.

"That may not stop him as he is mostly machine now," Sable said.

"No, but he is all steel and not human any more so this is not killing," Power Pack said as she called on all her strength and power and lit up the room as she placed her hands on Master Mold and disintegrated him away.

"Good to see you, Ladonna," Creed said as he and the rest of the Exiles approached the woman they had thought lost.

"I thought you were lost to us forever," Mimic added.

"No, it just took me a while to find my way back here and it seems not a moment too soon," Ladonna said as she looked as the disaster that was now the Crystal Palace.

"Who is this woman?" Gambit asked with a smile.

"She is the creator of this Crystal Palace and the head honcho of this section of the Multiverse Continuum. I'm so sorry Ladonna, we didn't do a very good job running things while you were away," Power Pack said as she and the others brought Ladonna up to speed on all that has happened.

"Don't worry, the Crystal Palace still stands and is our control so all is good. It seems Master Mold did quite a number on the systems. It's going to take a long time before I get things up and running and back to the way it used to be," Ladonna said as they had all managed to make it back to the control room and she looked over the system consol.

"What about all those teams that are trapped or lost out there?" Power Pack asked.

"Nothing I can do about that right now. We'll just have to hope they can survive long enough till things are running again and we can get to them all," Ladonna said.

"What about us getting home?" Major Victory asked.

"Well, that will be the easy part," Ladonna said as she pressed a button and Major Victory and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy flickered for a second but unfortunately remained while the power did not.

"What happened?" Nikki asked.

"It seems that the power is severely drained," Power Pack said as she joined Ladonna at the controls.

"It seems it is taking a lot just for the Crystal Palace to keep itself together and slowly repair. I'm afraid that I can add a little of my power and that of what Power Pack had stored up we can only open one, one-way portal somewhere and then that is it till we fix the Palace," Ladonna said as she looked at everyone.

"Only one portal?" Creed asked looking at Mimic, both thinking of Blink still out there somewhere.

"I'm afraid so. So you all must decide where to open the portal to. Now, I will need help here so anyone is welcomed to stay here and assist until things are up and running or you can go to one place and I can return you home from there once things are working again, but like I said it could take years before this place is back to normal and first priority will be the in danger realities that need saving and those lost agents that need to be pulled out," Ladonna said as she looked at the group out assembled before her.

"I know it sounds selfish but I vote to go to Earth-116X and find Blink and the others," Mimic said.

"But how do we know they are even still alive?" Gambit asked receiving some glares.

"We don't but we need to know for sure," Creed said.

"And whether you find them or not, that Earth is a great and safe place to be stranded until the Palace is working again," Major Victory added recalling his team's times there.

"As I speak for my group, we are unable to go home. We were not meant to be there and I'm afraid that if even one of us goes back it could mean disaster," Silver Stranger said.

"And ours isn't one we need to rush back to," Moon Knight said as she got nods from December and Spider-Man 2099.

"And we have decided we want to stay here at the Palace. The Guardians of the Multiverse sounds like the next great step for us," Major Victory said as everyone in his team agreed except for Rancor who just mumbled under her breath.

"It's decided, I will open a portal to Earth-116X. Those that want to go through can and those that want too stay can do so," Ladonna said after discussions ended and a unanimous decision finally arrived.

"Each of you who go will wear a Tallut wrist band. It won't be able to do everything you are used to but once we have the Palace up and running we will be able to contact you easily," Power Pack said as he started pulling out a bunch of metal wrist bands.

"So does that mean you're not going with us?" Nocturne asked.

"Ladonna is going to need some help and no one knows these systems as well as I do," Power Pack said.

"We will miss you," Mimic said giving the girl a hug.

"Okay, everyone place your Tallut on and step on the plat form. I will only have enough power to send you all at once. The portal can't be held open very long so there is no changing your minds," Ladonna said as she motioned to a circle upon the floor.

Mimic walked up first and looked at Ladonna, Power Pack and the Guardians of the Galaxy standing by the faintly glowing Palace Computer Console. He was quickly joined by Nocturne and Sunfire but they were all surprised when Creed agreed to stay behind, as a veteran Time Hopper he could help manage the crew staying behind and insure a way for the others to return. Dazzleshot had thought about remaining behind, after the loss of Skullfire and no desire to see her old gang back on 116X, but for some reason when Gambit said he was leaving and Blaze choose to go as well she found herself compelled to go as well. Creed sighed, he felt weird that he was the only one not going from the group, but he knew he better stay behind to ensure their and Blinks return back.

Spider-Man 2099 and December both decided to remain behind but Moon Knight choose to go along. She told them she had nothing to go back to, which was a half lie. She had never gone this long away from the moon and was starting to feel the effects and needed to get connected to a _real_ moon soon and any moon in any universe would do. Also, there was someone on Earth-116X she had to find as well, someone from her past she hadn't seen in a long time and this would be her one and only opportunity to do so. As the Tallut wrapped around her wrist it quickly integrated with her own armor and she winced a bit before she stared at the last group, the Outsiders.

"I will stay, my abilities may help and I need to assure that there are no signs of Master Mold here," Silver Stranger said.

"For that reason, I will also stay here," Sable said.

"As much as I would like to stay, I will go," Red Queen said as she went to grab a Tallut.

"You know, they will not be your real parents," Sable said to the young girl.

"I know," Red Queen said as she figures this would the closest she would ever get to making things right and feel a void she's had for a very long time.

"I have no desire to go to that other Earth when there are things to do here, but," Scarlet Spider began to say.

"Don't worry, I will go with her. I need a change," Iron-Girl said as she still wrestled with the loss of her friend and what she had to do.

"I will go too," Blade said as he threw a smile at Sunfire.

"Then it's," Mimic began to say when he was cut off as Ladonna pressed a button and they were instantly gone.

"You think we'll see them again?" December asked out load.

"Only if we get to work. There's a lot that needs to be done," Power Pack said as she tried to keep back the tears.

"Then it's a good thing I'm here to help," a voice said from behind them.

"Morph!" Power Pack screamed in joy as she saw a pile of dust go liquid and then stretch and grow till it became the Exile known as Morph.

"Takes more than an energy blast to get rid of me," Morph said with a smile as he was instantly tackled by an over excited girl.

**THE END…for now. Thanks to all of you who read and loved the Exiles series. **

**Next: The series may be over, but check out X-Men GenetiX and then Sensational X-Men to follow the fate of Blink and her team and then keep your eyes open in future issues of Avengers for more with Mimic's team. **


	52. EXILE FAN ANNOUNCEMENT

**ATTENTION EXILES FANS**

**As many of you may know, Blink and her group have been spotted in the X-Men: GetetiX miniseries and are now appearing in current issues of Salem-X, but what of Mimic and his group of Exiles?**

**Look no further as they can now be found in the backup story starting in Avengers Inc Issue #8! **


End file.
